Council Approves $1.077 Million in Tax Appeals

The Township Council approved an ordinance Monday that will allow it to borrow $1.077 million to pay for tax appeals to commercial and industrial companies that received adjustments from the State Tax Court.

The payment is in addition to a $1.7 million residential component granted to some residents in the form of adjusted fourth quarter tax bills, according to Lou Neely, head of the township finance department.

Neely said stability in the housing market would be a major factor regarding whether or not the township faces more tax appeals this year or next. He said appeals only happen when there is significant loss in the value of property.

“If the housing market has stabilized, then I don’ think we’ll receive a lot of appeals,” he said. “A lot of people come in and think they’re going to appeal, but when the assessor talks to them about the assessed value of their house compared to true value, they find that they’re not over assessed and don’t appeal.”

Neely said assessors have a very high percentage of people whose assessments fall close enough to the norm that a tax appeal isn’t warranted. Typically, if the assessment of a home is with in 15 percent greater or 15 percent less than the norm, than a tax appeal isn’t warranted.

The “norm” is determined by looking at 500 and 700 homes sold between willing buyers and willing sellers and creating a mean assessment from that.

“It’s 15 percent above or below the norm, so the assessor has a 30 percent window,” said Neely.