Township Hosts First Tax Revaluation Information Session

With a revaluation looming in West Orange, Appraisal Systems Inc., the company hired to do the township's revaluation, held an informational session at West Orange High School on Monday evening.

Ernest F. Del Guercio Sr., chief executive officer of Appraisal Systems, Inc., said his company plans to reassess more than 14,000 total residential and commercial properties in West Orange.

"We're going to go out and visit every property and measure and inspect every property," he said. "We're going to try and get into as many properties as we can and we're going to use that data ... to associate it neighborhood-by-neighborhood with the current market conditions."

Bonita Areman, of West Orange, and a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker of New Jersey, said she can't predict whether her property taxes will increase or decrease, but said she's well involved in the process because she conducts tax appeals.

"I do believe the town is going to make the best effort to be fair and equitable and I do believe in the equalization process because I've seen it in Verona ... in Livingston ... and in Fairfield," she said. "I think it's something that's necessary ... and we're just going to have to wait and see how it plays out."

Fewer than 50 people attended Monday night's session, the first of two sessions about the revaluation being held in the month of August.

Adam Glickman, of West Orange, said though he foresees his taxes increasing, he now knows more about ASI's process."I wanted to get an idea of the process," he said. "It's a reasonable summary of what will happen."

Del Guercio said the revaluation will be a uniformed tax list where everyone's paying their fair share.

"Nothing more, nothing less and every community is different," he said. "Sometime around November or December, residents will know their situation."

Robert Rashkas, of West Orange, said he doesn't know if he'll see his taxes increase or decrease, but said he's less wary now that he understands the method used to determine the revaluation.

"I wanted to see how the property taxes would be reviewed," he said. "At least now I know how it's going to be done, what to look for and how I can communicate with the person when they come out to my house."

Areman said the township just needs to get through the process to possibly help ease the real estate market.

"We've gone stagnant because potential buyers are fearing what's going to happen," she said. "We have close to 400 houses for sale of varying property types, so it's been very quiet and, even through the $8,000 tax credit, people are fearing what could potentially happen."

Del Guercio said township residents will be able to compare assessments to the average increase, to others in their neighborhood, to others in town and to all the sales listed on ASI's website.

"They can have confidence that their new assessment is consistent with other assessments and consistent with the market at that time," he said.

Del Guercio said residents can go to ASI's website for more information. He also said if residents have any conditions about their property that they feel could have an impact on the revaluation, residents should send a letter, survey or photograph that describe the particular situation to ASI.

The next information session is scheduled for Aug. 8, 7 p.m., West Orange Municipal Building, 66 Main St.