Message From The Mayor: Annual Tax Reassessment

Hello:

The recent appraisal updates have brought about a bit of concern. Although discussed at the time of the original reassessment a bit of a refresher may help.

Since the revaluation a couple of years ago as a Borough we have moved into a system of annual reassessment. This method allows for the tax burden to be divided in the most equitable way by keeping all properties as close to 100% of market as possible and should avoid the big swings that we had when the revaluations were not done in over 30 years. This applies to 100% of the residences in the Borough. It is more accurate and reflects current market conditions for your residence. The values of the properties, even homes that have not had any physical changes are all affected by the market and the residential real estate market has been very strong for the past several years. To establish the value of the residential homes, comparisons of similar homes that have sold in the past year are utilized. The increase this year represents a 2 year increase since the revaluation. It is important to note that an increase in assessment does not equally increase the tax dollars because the assessment of the entire town has gone up about 14%. The assessment relates to the percentage of the overall cost of the boroughs budget that is allocated to your particular property.

Another piece of the process is the in house assessment which is being done on an 5 year rotating basis. The purpose of this is get an idea of the general condition of your residence and more importantly to make sure your residence is categorized and is being taxed properly.

The third piece and most important is the tax rate which is a value per assessed dollar of the whole town which is derived from the Boroughs annual budget, the Schools annual budget, plus the county’s budget requirement for Middlesex Borough. This is a straight calculation based on our financial obligations for the year. This rate times your assessed value gives you your personal real estate tax due.

It seems a bit complex, and it is, but it is the most fair way at this time to allocate our tax burden.

Need more information or have a question? Our tax assessor's info is below. She will be able to answer any questions you may have.

Dawn Guttschall - Tax Assessor

Phone: 732.356.7400 x270

Email: taxassessor@middlesexboro-nj.gov

Dawn will be presenting at the upcoming council meeting on the 25th at 7PM.

Thank you,

Mayor Jack Mikolajczyk