Bill > A2923

Introduced Session

This bill would extend the provisions of the "Property Tax Assessment Reform Act," P.L.2009, c.118 (C.54:1-86 et al.), which created county-based real property assessment as a pilot program in Gloucester County, to include Passaic County. Under the provisions of the bill the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders would appoint a county assessor, who would effectuate the transfer of the assessment function to the county assessor over a three-year period, in accordance with a schedule developed by the county assessor. Under the bill, the transfer of the assessment function from Passaic County's municipalities to the county would require the revaluation of real property in of the all municipalities within the county to create uniformity of assessment throughout the county. The county assessor would have the authority to assist in the orderly revaluation of all of the municipalities within the county, including the authority to grant a municipality a waiver from the revaluation requirement if the municipality has implemented a revaluation within the preceding 24 months and the county assessor believes that the revaluation produced accurate valuations that are still relevant. The county assessor would be aided by deputy county assessors and assistant deputy county assessors, who would be recommended for appointment by the county assessor and appointed by the county board of chosen freeholders at any time after the appointment of the county assessor. Under the bill, the State would be required to reimburse Passaic County for the cost of the necessary revaluations using funds from either the SHARE program or from the Consolidation Fund, or both. The reimbursements would be made in equal installments, over three years. If funding from the SHARE program or the Consolidation Fund is not available for this purpose, the bill would require the State to reimburse Passaic County using moneys available from the Property Tax Relief Fund, in equal installments, over three years. The bill would also require Passaic County to operate, on a permanent basis, under the alternative real property assessment dates established for municipalities participating in the "Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program," P.L.2013, c.15 (C.54:1-101 et al). The alternative real property assessment calendar is designed to address the systemic costs which result from losses due to successful assessment appeals by property owners, which reduce the property tax base, and which require municipalities to refund large amounts of property taxes previously collected from those property owners. Under current law, with respect to municipalities located in a county that is not operating under the "Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program," every municipal tax assessor files the municipality's tax list with the county board of taxation, which subsequently sets the local tax rates. Assessment appeals are filed by property owners on April 1 of each year (or on May 1 in the case of a municipality that has undergone a municipal-wide revaluation or reassessment of real property). Appeals are heard by the county tax board and generally decided in most, if not all, cases by the end of July. Successful appeals that late in the tax year result in reduced assessments, which reduces the municipal tax base. Because the county tax board will have already apportioned the tax levy, a decrease in the tax base will result in the under-collection of property taxes to fund current year operations. The real property assessment calendar enacted as part of the "Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program" re-schedules the property assessment appeal process to dates prior to the calculation of the local property tax rate, which allows for a more accurate local property tax rate to reflect local budgetary needs and the true value of the tax base that provides the property tax revenue to fund the local budget. It is anticipated that a shift from municipal-based real property assessment to county-based real property assessment will provide significant savings for Passaic County's property taxpayers, given Gloucester County's experience with county-based assessment. In its "Report to the New Jersey Division of Taxation Regarding the Performance of the Gloucester County Assessor's Pilot Program" from 2015, Gloucester County reported savings of over $2 million per year resulting from the efficiencies realized from county-based real property assessment. In 2014 dollars, the Gloucester County Assessor's Office maintained assessments at a per tax line item cost per year of $20.79, 46% lower than the municipal cost of $38.56 per line item. Passaic County's property taxpayers could see similar cost savings resulting from a change to county-based real property assessment.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Gary Schaer (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document