Former Colts Neck Mayor, County Tax Commissioner Admits Tax 'Mistake'

Monmouth County, NJ - Does Monmouth County tax commissioner James Stuart — and a former mayor of Colts Neck — actually live in Monmouth County?

Stuart says yes, and that he lives at his daughter's home in Ocean Township.

But when the Asbury Park Press examined public real estate documents, it found that Stuart declared a recently sold property in Barnegat, Ocean County as his primary residence. The records show a box was checked on the forms that said the property was "owned and occupied" by Stuart, meaning it was his primary residence, the APP found.

When asked by the Press about the document, Stuart said checking that box was a "mistake."

"I'll have to send the money back. That's what my wife did. She did all that stuff. It wasn't right and it shouldn't have been done. Maybe she was trying to be cute and trying to save a few bucks. I don't know," he told the Press when asked about it.

But that document only shows his signature, not his wife's, Patricia.

The money he is referring to is the $1,137 realty transfer free he did not have to pay in the sale, as he is a senior citizen at age 67.

By law, he must live in Monmouth County to be a Monmouth County tax commissioner

Stuart gets paid $22,846 for his part-time position to serve as president on the tax board, where he, along with other commissioners, decide Monmouth County tax appeals.

When he was first appointed in 2013, he and Patricia lived on Rimwood Lane in Colts Neck. Three months after he was appointed, they sold that house.

Stuart changed his Monmouth County voter registration to the Ocean Township home owned by his daughter. Stuart has voted in four elections since 2013 in Ocean Township, and listed that address as his primary residence.

His wife, meanwhile, lives full-time in their second home in Sarasota, Florida, where she applied for a senior citizen tax break there, too. That is not illegal, as long as one spouse lives there full time and the couple does not get tax breaks from a permanent home in any other state. Stuart said his wife wants them to relocate permanently to Florida, and he goes down to visit her often.

Read the original article here.