Tax Appeals Results Are In – Our Firm’s 2015 Assessment Reductions top $5.1 Million

Our firm’s County Tax Appeals for the 2015 Tax Year have concluded. We are pleased to report that this year, we have reduced the assessments for our tax appeal clients by more than $5.1 Million. In more than 70% of our concluded matters, we were able to reduce the assessments for our clients. In Monmouth County, our appeals in Sea Girt had the largest margin of savings, averaging more than $150,000 per property. In Asbury Park, where a revaluation was recently conducted, assessments did not vary substantially from true market values. In Middlesex County, our concluded matters yielded an average assessment reduction of 24% of assessed value.

As always, much of the credit goes to our experienced team of real estate appraisers, who have done an excellent job in not only preparing the appraisal reports, but also testifying at the tax appeal hearings. In all, we used a total of 9 appraisers for our 2015 matters, and they have all done an exceptional job in helping us overcome the burden of proof in out matters.

Finally, we note that a property does not need to be assessed for more than it is worth in order to be considered “over-assessed.” In many towns, an “equalization ratio” is used to determine the percentage of value at which properties should be assessed. If your property is assessed at a higher percentage of value than the rest of your town, you may also have a good case for a tax appeal. However, for Monmouth County residents, we note that due to the new “Assessment Demonstration Program” being in effect in Monmouth County, nearly all towns in this County have attempted to assess their properties at or near 100% of “True Market Value.” In cases where the assessments have exceeded true market value, we encourage taxpayers to file appeals.

For taxpayers who did not file a tax appeal for the 2015 year, we note that we will begin accepting appeals for 2016 starting in October of this year. In Monmouth County, all tax appeals are due by January 15, 2016. In the remainder of New Jersey Counties, tax appeals are generally due by April 1, 2016. In the event that your property is over-assessed, we encourage you to contact us as early in the Tax Appeal season as possible, so we have time to have one of our appraisers evaluate your property prior to the filing deadline.