Our town's properties (Morris County, NJ) were re-assessed and the new value is pretty high in my estimation: 30% higher on a house that was initially assessed when it was built in 2003. Has anyone appealed their property tax assessment? What are suggestions for winning the appeal? Can you win appeals without an attorney or is it one of those things where you need an attorney who is chummy with the county court to get a positive result? Thanks in advance.
OT: Fighting your property tax assessment
- Thread starter MorrisAsh
- Start date
the below link describes the process.
http://www.moneycrashers.com/how-to-appeal-the-property-tax-assessment-on-your-home/
http://www.moneycrashers.com/how-to-appeal-the-property-tax-assessment-on-your-home/
Know the rules
Find similar properties but they have to have sold between certain dates
Also many sales do not count. Short sales, foreclosures, non arms length etc.
The assessor also has a cushion. I think it might be 15%.
Find similar properties but they have to have sold between certain dates
Also many sales do not count. Short sales, foreclosures, non arms length etc.
The assessor also has a cushion. I think it might be 15%.
My assessment just went up over $100k, all land value. House actually went down $1,500. Thought about fighting it but was told once it's finished being raised and I get the rooms I lost back, it'll be reassessed anyway. I'll save my fight till then if possible.
This, if you come prepared with at least 3 comps, it's almost like talking to the prosecutor with a traffic ticket, the assessor will want to close the file as and may offer a compromise. Rather than a lawyer, better to have a real estate agent familiar with the sales in the area or a real estate appraiser.Doesn't take much on their end so should not have to pay.
That's been my experience...FWIW
I've done this successfully without a lawyer in lower Bergen. As stated above, know the rules and get good comps. When you go talk to the assessor, he will have comps that will prove his case. It'll be your comps vs his and he'll meet in the middle.
A lot of shenanigans in Monmouth County with that newly implemented assessment program, which I believe was recently put on hold. We are appealing our assessment in Rumson. Our land assessment is really inflated, but you cannot dispute the assessment of the land or the buildings separately. Our hearing is in a couple of weeks. The comps they gave us are ridiculous.
Your assessed value is less important than the millage rate. Most reassessments take a revenue neutral first step then add in the overall revenue they need. At that point the millage against the average property value is calculated. In my previous house my assessed value went up but my taxes went down. Most reassessments are a way of re-baselining older with newer houses. If your house is newer it is more likely that your taxes will go down than up relative to the older homes. The people with the older assessments are likely the people who need to really watch out.
Are you in Morris Township?
My assessment went up 65%, which was fairly consistent with my entire neighborhood (all very similar style/size built in the 50s) so I doubt I'd be able to build a strong argument.
However, as others have mentioned, the tax rate also needs to be considered. My taxes ended up increasing from $7800 to $9K.
If you are in Morris Township and your assessment only went up 30%, your property taxes would actually go down by 10% since the average property increased by 43%
My assessment went up 65%, which was fairly consistent with my entire neighborhood (all very similar style/size built in the 50s) so I doubt I'd be able to build a strong argument.
However, as others have mentioned, the tax rate also needs to be considered. My taxes ended up increasing from $7800 to $9K.
If you are in Morris Township and your assessment only went up 30%, your property taxes would actually go down by 10% since the average property increased by 43%
Last edited:
I did mine a few years ago and did not use a lawyer. The key is to get good comparables. I was lucky I did mine at the depths of the housing market and I purchased my house as a fixer upper so the purchase price was a lot lower than what it was really worth. I had my taxes reduced by almost $1000. It wont last long though, once they do re-assessments it will be going back up.
Tannebaum & Zipp in Jamesburg. Recommended by my accountant. The house next door to me has 3X more land than me and their house is over twice the sq. ft. of mine. It just sold in July so it is a good comp. My taxes are 17% less than theirs?????? Appeal baby appeal. Being heard by the Monmouth County tax board next month. Might have to appeal every year to keep them honest.
That does not sound like a good comp. A good comp is one where the houses are similar in specs but taxes differ greatly. Also you can only appeal once every so many years, I think 7.
Your absolutely right. I thought it was and still should be a good comp but my lawyer months ago told me not necessarily. I forget his reasoning but common sense should dictate that both houses are made of wood and dirt is dirt.
At least in Bergen County and I imagine all counties in NJ, the appraisal is secondary and not really necessary, at least when I went through this a few years ago. I did not get one. All they cared about is comps. Like I said, the process at the hearing was I had my 3 comps which proved my case, the assessor had his own 3 comps which proved his case and he offered a deal in the middle.
Correct.
For Monmouth County, you can search closed listings for your town here:
http://www.momls.com/portal/
We live in a house on 3/4 acre built in 1906 on a busy street close to the road. The comps the assessor gave us were ridiculous--newer houses on 1.5 acres or more.
I live in Morris County. Two years ago, I read a thread on this Board on how to appeal my real estate taxes. I filed a tax appeal and helped two of my neighbors file their appeals. I relied on Zillow and Trulia for comparables. I saw that that my friend (John) in Town had a newer, bigger house with more property and was paying significantly less taxes than me. John me that he had successfully appealed his assessment a few years back. I negotiated a 20% reduction on my taxes with the local assessor. The two neighbors that i assisted negotiated 15% decreases. Bottom line: it is at least worth a try for most people.
I was talking to a woman who had successfully appealed in my town. She was very upset because the next year (when I talked to her, we were in the municipal building) she said the taxes went right back up again. Apparently in my town you have to appeal every year or they just put the taxes back to their high valuation.
What are you paying in taxes and based on what is value of the home?
Bergen is a killer and doubt Morris is anywhere near in property taxes
We went to our appeal today with some pretty solid comps, thinking we would get a reduction. As noted above, the comps the assessor used were ridiculously high. Then they hit us with "you paid $X 5 years ago for your house, and you are arguing that it has barely appreciated?" Market data shows the market declined from 2011 to 2013 and picked back up in the last couple of years. We had read that the price you actually paid for your house is not conclusive evidence of your tax value. We came away thinking we will not get a reduction.
Market value and assessed value are not the same - normally, they are off from each other quite a lot. One thing to remember about property taxes, it's all relative and a zero sum game. Even if your assessed value is twice your market rate value, if everyone else in town has the same scenario, everyone is still paying the correct amount in taxes. Error is fine, as long as everyone has equal error.
