The Hudson County Board of Taxation on Tuesday ordered the city of Bayonne to complete a citywide property revaluation by January 1, 2019. Since the last revaluation was 25 years ago, many properties are likely to see an increase in the amount they pay in taxes. A revaluation does not increase the property owner’s tax rate; it merely updates the property value to reflect today’s market, rather than the 1991 market.
All cities are required by law to perform revaluations, but when to perform them can be tricky. They’re usually done only when the property’s current assessed value is 75-85 percent of its current market value. For instance, if a property on one side of town is assessed at $70,000, and that same property’s current market value is $100,000, the ratio would be 70 percent. The objective of a revaluation is to assess all properties at 100 percent market value.
The order will not sit well with many property owners in Bayonne.
One homeowner, who did not want to be named, said, “It’s a catastrophe. A lot of people are seniors or on a fixed income. What about them? All homeowners in Bayonne are not winners. We’re all going to get higher taxes at the current value.”
Mayor James Davis is also displeased with the order. In a public statement, he said, “This process, both time-consuming and costly, is a necessary one, but one that is coming at the wrong time, and is being driven by bad politics instead of good policy.”
Revaluations are legally mandated, inconvenient, and arduous, but inevitable. They are designed to address unequal tax burdens. Because property taxes are levied on property values, older homes are paying taxes on values that do not accurately reflect their current value. A revaluation does not increase the property owner’s tax rate; it merely updates the property value to reflect today’s market, rather than the 1991 market.
City revaluations typically result in a tax hike for one third of property owners, while taxes decrease for one third, and stay the same for the rest. The revaluation process is a long and costly one that requires a reappraisal of each property in the city and updating tax maps.
Bayonne City Councilman-at-large Juan Perez said, “You got to have quality maps. They have to be updated.”
“This has more to do with opposition here in town.” – Juan Perez
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Playing politics?
But what triggered the revaluation, according to the mayor and Perez, was a former Bayonne business administrator and attorney, who requested the order, according to city officials. In this issue of the Bayonne Community News, Mayor Davis wrote in his column, “I have no doubt that the individual who petitioned for this, a former Business Administrator and current tax appeal attorney, knows this, yet still chose to put his personal goals ahead of the good of the community.”
He went on to say, “We have made the decision not to appeal the order by the Tax Board, as that would only cost you, the taxpayers, even more money.”
“This has more to do with opposition here in town. They wanted it to be done right away,” Perez said, noting that the mayor’s opponents “realize [the voters] will blame it on the mayor.”
“They don’t realize the ramification on fixed income residents and senior citizens,” Perez said. Mayor Davis agreed. “[The revaluation] will shift the tax burden, I believe unfairly, from industrial properties to one- and two-family homes throughout Bayonne.”
Patrick Desmond, a Davis adversary, along with two others, Michael Alonso and Donald Baran Jr., filed a notification of intention to recall the mayor earlier this month.
In an official response, the mayor said, “The initiation of recall procedures serve the political interests of the very few who would rather see Bayonne move backwards.” In his column, he said that the recall “is a decision that those involved were well within their rights to make,” but “would force the city to hold a special election, with an approximate price tag of over $200,000.”
Reval not yet approved
The revaluation is not set in stone. It needs to be approved by the state in order to take effect. For more information on property revaluations in NJ, visit NJ State Treasury Department’s “What is Revaluation?” at www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/lpt/revaluation.pdf
Rory Pasquariello may be reached at roryp@hudsonreporter.com.