New property values to be on books in fall '08 Upgraded kitchens, bathrooms, pools, water views jack up values BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer BRICK TOWNSHIP - Homeowners and business owners here will get their first look at how much their property values may have changed by next fall. That's when Appraisal Systems Inc. - the company the township hired in 2006 to conduct a revaluation - will post the preliminary new values on the company's Web site, company president Ernest F. Del Guercio Sr. said at the Dec. 11 Township Council meeting. Del Guercio and Jason Cohen, the company's project manager, gave the council and the public an update on Brick's revaluation process, which began last spring. "We set these values in a way they can be easily understood," Del Guercio said. "Our goal is to be totally transparent and to share all the information." Property valuation includes the area and particular neighborhood where the properties are located. The company analyzes comparable sales going back two to three years. Things have changed since the township's last revaluation in 1992, Del Guercio said. "We are in the process of studying the market," he said. "As we speak, the market is changing. It's no secret that waterfront properties in the past five years are gaining value compared to those inland. The question is, what are they going to be worth as of October 2008? The jury is still out. We are still tracking those sales." "The only thing we do is to make sure everyone is fairly and uniformly assessed," Del Guercio added. Council President Michael Thulen questioned the state of the real estate market and what effect it would have on the revaluation process. "Do you feel you have caught it in a downward trend?" he said. "When we catch it is not as important as when we set the values," Del Guercio said. "For the first time in maybe 30 years, we are talking about looking at a possible decrease in value." The revaluation process begins with an onsite inspection of the property. Appraisal Systems has inspected about 10,000 residential and commercial properties in Brick, or roughly one-third, so far, Cohen said. Appraisers analyze how much it would cost to rebuild and what the market value is for similar properties in the same neighborhood when setting a value. Revaluations of commercial properties are also based on how much income the business generates, he said. "We have about 20,000 to go," he said. "We expect the inspections to continue through the late summer of 2008." The new property revaluations will be reflected in the 2009 tax bills, Cohen said. All Appraisal Systems inspectors will be wearing identification badges. The police department knows what neighborhoods inspectors are working in on any given day, and have their car information on file, he said. "If you have any uncertainty, you definitely want to check with the town or the police," Cohen said. The inspector will first conduct a 10- to 15-minute inspection of the property's exterior. That includes measuring any improvements on the site since the last revaluation, such as pools, porches, garages and sheds. The style of the house and the type of roof will also be noted, he said. If the property owner is home, the inspector will then perform an interior inspection, which takes five to 15 minutes, depending upon the size of the house, Cohen said. Inspectors will do a room count, but are primarily interested in finished basements and attics and any upgrades to kitchens or bathrooms, he said. "We are looking for major contributors to value," Cohen said. If the property owner is not home when the inspectors first visit, they will leave an appointment card with a new date and time for an interior inspection, he said. If property owners are unavailable during the day, they can request a night appointment between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, Cohen said. "We do that as a courtesy for the property owner," he said. Once the inspections are completed, the next phase is the actual appraisal process. "The most important thing to remember is we are looking for the major contributors to value," Cohen said. The lot size, the size of the home, the neighborhood and waterfront views all contribute to a home's value, he said. The final process of the revaluation comes when the property owner is notified of the new valuation, Del Guercio said. A property owner can request an informal public hearing with company officials to discuss how the new value was calculated, he said. All the property valuations in a particular neighborhood will be posted on the company's Web site at www.asinj.com. The property owner can then decided if they feel the valuation is fair. "The only way we can allow you to make that determination is to share all of that information," Del Guercio said. Township Council members hired Appraisal Systems in November 2006 for $1.46 million to conduct the revaluation. The Ocean County Board of Taxation ordered Brick in February 2005 to complete a revaluation that would take effect in 2008. But council members decided to delay awarding the bid for the revaluation, because of the overinflated housing market at the time. One-third of township property values traditionally increase, one-third decrease and one-third maintain their value after a revaluation, and the tax rate usually drops by half, Township Administrator Scott M. Pezarras has said.