Third Quarter Bills Have Residents Questioning Taxes

Third-quarter tax bills are out, bringing at least one resident to the June 28 Township Committee meeting with questions about the revaluation and tax rates.

“Last week, I received my quarterly tax bill and I have to state that it scared me, since, based on the amount, my annualized taxes went up 20.34 percent, amounting to a $1,770.17 increase,” David Brook, of Winding Way, said. “There was no explanation or accompanying statement by the Township Tax Office as to what happened to cause my taxes to increase this unprecedented amount.”

The estimated bill included no break down of taxes, according to Brook. Though he approached the tax office, the township’s tax assessor was on vacation, he said.

 “My taxes went up 20 percent and I have no idea why,” Brook said. “Even if you went from 60 percent (of market value) to 100 percent (of market value), it doesn’t mean your taxes should jump that much.”

Brook also questioned the appraisals conducted during the tax revaluation. He is disputing his revaluation, since he believes it reflects fixes that have not yet occurred, he said.

“I live in a fixer-upper, but they appraised me as if the fixes had already been done,” he said.

But the increase Brook calculated may be the result of a common error many residents make when looking at their third quarter bills—one that the township’s finance office hears about constantly.

“I believe his taxes didn’t go up 20 percent,” Chief Finance Officer Nancy Haberle, who examined Brook’s tax bill but had not met with him, said. “His second and third quarter bill did go up 20 percent and his assessed value did go up significantly, but he does have a tax appeal pending.”

Many people tend to look at the second to third quarter increase rather than the full year’s bill or multiply the third quarter bill by four, Haberle said.

“Most people look at second to third quarter and go ‘oh my gosh,” Haberle said. “A lot of people were just taking their third quarter bill and multiplying it by four.”

“It’s a common error most people make,” Haberle said. “You have to look at the year as a whole.”

In addition, the second quarter tax bill applies a homestead rebate to those with eligible properties, Haberle said.

“To throw an additional little wrinkle in this, we had the homestead rebate in the second quarter, she said. “If you had a rebate, you had an additional deduction.”

Residents can calculate the change in the taxes by multiplying their 2011 assessed value by 2.195, then subtracting the result from what they paid in 2010.

“The uniqueness of this year is that we are also dealing with a complete revaluation,” Haberle said. “Some people’s taxes went up, some people’s went down and some stayed the same.”

Many of the questions have been resolved by explaining the new bills to residents, Haberle said.

 “Everybody we spoke to, when we put it on paper, they realized,” Haberle said. “It was mostly people taking the third quarter bills and multiplying by four.”

Those with questions regarding their tax bills are welcome to call the township offices at 908-369-4313.