Dear Editor:
I attended the city sponsored “rolling reval” community forum at the Elks Club last Wednesday night. Several issues were raised by the community about the process and impact of the prior revaluation. Some residents expressed frustration about the amount of time and money they had to spend for an appeal. Other residents questioned the accuracy and transparency of the evaluation.
I share their concern that all of their efforts will be deterred by such a flawed process. They will be re-evaluated on a yearly basis. This will burden already overtaxed homeowners. And it will make it difficult for homeowners to plan for their taxes from year to year. Some seniors, veterans and people with disabilities are already struggling with the last massive property tax increase. These longtime residents, who are the bedrock of the community that Hoboken has blossomed into, can’t afford multiple increases and are being forced to leave their homes. Why should their taxes increase just because their neighbor’s home has been renovated?
Instead of yearly assessments, they should be done every six years. But city officials appear to have a different plan. The City Council majority approved the mayor’s rolling assessment program. It is being touted as a money saver. Yet, when pressed, Mayor Zimmer and the city’s business administrator could not point to any specific or estimated cost savings for the $125,000 per year that Hoboken is paying for the reval. Because this is an issue that clearly impacts everyone’s pocketbook and privacy, I suggest we have a referendum on the rolling reval. Let voters decide. This makes sense especially since the original revaluation was problematic on many levels. If we don’t give voters a say, they will be left picking up the pieces trying to guess what the reval company determines is fair.
I urge all residents who have comments about this issue to email us or visit my website carmelogarcia.com.
Sincerely,
Assemblyman Carmelo G. Garcia