Worries Still Swirling About West Orange Property Revaluation

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A mandatory property revaluation in West Orange continues to raise worries among some local homeowners, who have a big question on their minds: Will it raise my taxes?

The short answer? Maybe – or maybe not.

In August, the town began sending out a letter to local residents about the revaluation – the first West Orange has seen in nearly 12 years. The program has been ordered by the Essex County Board of Taxation and approved by the New Jersey Division of Taxation. It will become effective for the 2025 tax year.

The West Orange tax assessor office has released a question-and-answer brochure, which can be seen online here.

During a revaluation, all properties in a district are re-assessed to find out their current “full and fair value.” The goal? To make sure each homeowner is paying their fair share toward the town’s overall tax burden.

It’s something that’s long overdue, according to West Orange tax administrators: the average property in West Orange is currently assessed at 78.22 percent of its market value.

Although almost all property values rise during a revaluation, it doesn't necessarily mean that all property taxes will increase, state officials say.

"You might now be thinking, 'How can my assessment increase and my taxes not go up?'" the New Jersey Treasury Department explains. "Remember, assessments are merely a base used to apportion the tax burden … the amount that your municipality must raise for the operation of county and local government and support of the school system."

The revaluation process is “revenue neutral,” meaning that no additional taxes are be raised for the town, school district or county as a result. However, both the municipality and the local school district recently approved tax hikes for 2023 – which may cause a separate headache for West Orange homeowners.

• See Related: Tax Hike Imminent As West Orange School Budget Hits Finish Line
• See Related: West Orange Council Adopts Town Budget, Tax Increase Approved

During a revaluation, assessors visit individual homes and conduct both inside and outside inspections. The inspections in West Orange will begin in September and continue until August 2024.

Jacob Nieman, the municipal tax assessor in West Orange, gave a presentation about the revaluation at the Sept. 5 town council meeting, which he said will “hopefully calm some nerves about this process.”

The full presentation can be seen online here. Watch footage from the meeting below (video is cued to the revaluation discussion; article continues below).

Questions about the revaluation continue to swirl among some West Orange homeowners, however.

Speaking during public comment at the town council meeting on Sept. 5, a local resident said he is concerned about the revaluation’s potential impact to his property taxes, as well as a recent sewer fee increase in West Orange.

He also said that he’s worried that a national trend – Black and Brown homeowners having disparate property revaluations – may potentially play out in West Orange as well (video is cued to the discussion).

It’s a worry that Council President Tammy Williams said holds water.

“It’s a valid concern – the appraisal process in Black and Brown communities is certainly documented as being concerning,” she said.

Councilman Bill Rutherford also commented on the issue.

“We don’t want to fight yesterday’s fight,” he said. “If there is systemic racism in this part of the process, we want to know. So if there’s a way to know, if there’s an objective measure, we’d like to know.”

The town’s chief financial officer, John Gross, replied that the town will likely publicly publish all of the new values that result from the revaluation – something that not all other towns do.

“That certainly would go a long way to help the transparency of this,” Gross said, a suggestion that Williams said that she “absolutely” supports.

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