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Home Inspections For Township-Wide Revaluation Have Begun
By Catherine Snipe
That knock on your door may be the township.
The reason? Home inspections as the first part of the county-ordered revaluation of properties.
Inspectors from Appraisal Systems, Inc. began visiting Brick Township homes on May 31 to perform inspections for the township-wide revaluation. The first to be inspected were Mayor Daniel Kelly's and Tax Assessor Fred Millman's homes.
The purpose of doing a revaluation is to make sure all properties are assessed at fair market value.
Township Administrator Scott Pezzaras said at one point the number of properties assessed at true value was less than 45 percent of all properties on the tax rolls.
The problem, Pezzaras said, is that the township should have at least 80 percent assessed at true value. When the percentage is lower, a revaluation is warranted - mandated by law, in fact - and Brick is far below that threshold.
The revaluation process is exactly what it sounds like: The market value of your property is adjusted based on current market conditions, thereby resetting your property's assessed value.
Your property taxes are based on your property's assessment, making the process something some residents are wary of - but they don't necessarily need to be.
While assessed values are likely to go up almost across the board, the town's tax rate would also be adjusted following the evaluation process to reflect the change in Brick's total assessed value.
A general rule of thumb often cited is that after revaluation, roughly one-third of tax bills will go up, one-third will drop and one-third will stay the same.
The county ordered the township to revaluate two years ago. The township pushed it back a year as it looked for a firm large enough to oversee the revaluation.
By now, each resident should have received letters of introduction and informational brochures, which the township said were circulated prior to Memorial Day.
Kelly said the revaluation is not a way of generating more money for the township. Instead, "It will make sure property taxes are distributed equitably and in accordance with state law," he said.
Right now, properties that have increased in value may not show that on the tax rolls because it has been so long since properties were assessed. Similarly, properties that have decreased in value may be paying more than they should.
The tax effects of the new assessments will take effect in January 2009.
Inspection of properties is the first step in the revaluation process. All properties in the township will be visited by inspectors who will examine the interior of buildings and measure and photograph the exterior of properties.
The township warned that all inspectors will have photo identification authorized by the Brick Township Police Department, and that residents should not allow anyone without this identification to enter.
Brick Township's Tax Assessor Fred Millman will oversee the revaluation. He was also in charge of the last revaluation, completed in 1992.
The long process includes periodic status reports to the Ocean County Board of Taxation.
For more information on the revaluation process, call 732-840-0380 or visit www. asinj.com.
Staff writer Eric San Juan contributed to this story.
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