Revaluation Could Bring 'Wild Changes' To Westfield Taxpayers

WESTFIELD, NJ — Ronald Reagan was in the White House, the top song was "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts and a ticket to see the number one movie, "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial," cost $3. The year was 1982 and it was the last time the town of Westfield had a revaluation of its nearly 9,200 taxable properties.

Neil Rubenstein, a partner with Realty Appraisal Company, told the Mayor and Council in their meeting Tuesday that he is working to change that.

"We have done about 7,000 residential inspections in the town and we have about 100 commercial properties left to inspect," Rubenstein said.

According to the New Jersey State Legislature Office of Legislative Services, a revaluation is a periodic process that seeks to align property assessments for property tax purposes with current fair market values. A revaluation program seeks to spread the tax burden equitably within a municipality. Real property must be assessed at the same standard of value to ensure that every property owner is paying his or her fair share of the property tax.

For example, two properties having essentially the same market value should be:

• paying essentially the same amount in property taxes.
• Inequitable assessments result from the following situations:
• changes is characteristics in areas or neighborhoods within the municipality and within individual properties;
• fluctuations in the economy (inflation, recession);
• changes in style and custom (desirability of architecture, size of house);
• changes in zoning which can either enhance or adversely effect value;
• delays in processing building permits which delay tax assessments on
• new construction.

Rubenstein noted that mother nature has been the challenge thus far.

"The main issue we've been having is the weather," he said. "The rain has delayed us somewhat, it has been out main obstacle but we are committed to finishing the revaluation in time to be implemented for the 2019 tax year."

Rubenstein said they will finish the inspections within the next month or two and then move on to the next step.

"Once that is done we will mail out a notification letter. Every tax payer in town will get a letter from our company with the proposed new assessment, instructions on how to reach out and make an appointment and come in and talk to us," he said.

Rubenstein said they anticipated mailing those letters in December and January and those who want to talk about their assessment will meet with the company at the town hall.

"We will meet with people one on one. We will go over the proposed assessment, review what is called the property record card review the sales. Any information we have will be shown to residents so they can review them and get an understanding of how we developed the appraisal of their property," Rubenstein said. "Once that step is completed we would mail out a second letter. Every resident that comes in for that informal hearing we will send a letter and give them the result of that hearing. We would expect that the informal hearings would take about a month in this town."

According to Rubenstein, the impact won't be seen until the tax bill that comes out in the summer of 2019. So even though the date of value for all properties in Westfield is Oct. 1 2018, it won't be seen until the tax bill the following year in 2019.

Rubenstein said there are common misconceptions about the revaluation.

"A lot of people think a revaluation is to raise taxes. That is not the case," Rubenstein said. "Revaluation redistributes the tax burden. There will be a certain percentage that sees an increase a certain percentage that sees a decrease and certainly a percentage that stays around the same."

Rebalancing The Pie

Rubenstein also noted that the process is revenue neutral, meaning there is not one extra dollar collected in taxation.

"It is just rebalancing the pie," he said, noting that the inspector that has been coming into people's homes does not do the appraisal. That person just collects the data.

Rubenstein also addressed the concern he has heard about in town: taxes.

"We don't know the impact of the revaluation. After 35 years in a municipality, in any municipality, many things can change. Neighborhoods can shift, areas can increase in value faster than others, properties could have had successful tax appeals so there is going to be quite a rebalancing of the tax burden," Rubenstein said. "It is our job, with the aid of the tax assessor's office, to understand what is going on right now in the real estate market in Westfield. Not three years ago or two years ago, but the most current sales that are occurring to use those sales to develop the residential appraisals on all properties."

According to Rubenstein, many towns are going through this process because the State said to many counties that it has been too long.

"Thirty-five years is a very long time," Rubenstein said. "Unfortunately things can get too far out of whack and when you do rebalance them you have wild, potentially, changes."

At the end of the presentation, Town Administrator Jim Gildea said the overall likelihood is that home values will increase, allowing the municipality to compensate with a lower tax rate.

But Rubenstein said that the equalization will be different for each resident.

"For everybody that goes up, somebody goes down somewhere," he said.

Rubenstein's remarks begin around the six minute mark in the video on the Westfield Facebook page.

(Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

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