Business may be slack for much of the economy, but these are boom times for property tax attorneys. The annual deadline for filing property tax appeals in New Jersey comes up next Wednesday, April 1 at 4 pm. Livingston tax attorney Michael Schneck has already filed or is in the process of filing 2,200 cases — a 50 percent rise in his caseload since last year. He doesn’t have time for any more. Montclair property tax attorney Greg Lotz has also been “flooded with calls” this year. “People are just trying to save a dollar anywhere they can,” he speculates. Lotz is still taking new clients on.
Homeowners around here have always complained about property taxes. But with house prices falling, many people see a possibility that their property is overvalued. Home values are also very much in the heads of Glen Ridgers, whose homes underwent a revaluation last year, and Montclarions, whose reval was the year before. Bloomfield, you’re next. Your revaluation will be in the next two years.
So, time is running out. You have no idea what to do. Here are some suggestions.
- Find out what your house is worth. Local realtor Roberta Baldwin recently sent out a postcard offering to tell homeowners what she thinks their houses are worth. We’re pretty sure most other realtors would be happy to perform the same service. Get a ballpark idea of your house value so you can decide whether your town may be over-valuing it. Just remember: it’s what your house was worth on October 1, 2008 that counts, not what it’s worth right now. If prices in your neighborhood having been sinking since October, you might wait until 2010 to file an appeal.
- Find out what your town’s equalization ratio is. This is a number, published by the state annually, used to calculate your house’s value since the last tax revaluation. This is how it works. This year, Glen RIdge’s ratio is 91.19 percent. So if your house was valued last year at, say, $750,000, you have to divide by .9119 to get the current value, which in this case is $822,458. Obviously if you thought your house should have been assessed at $600,000 last year, your case is even better this year. Here are some other equalization ratios for nearby towns. And here’s the math. Take the amount of your house assessment (as sent to you on your tax card) and divide by the ratio, moving the decimal point two places to the left. Montclair 100, Bloomfield 39.57, Verona 19.68, Caldwell 89.49, Nutley 100, Clifton 47.47.
- File an appeal. If you can, try to find an attorney who’s willing to take on some more work. This may get you started. If you can’t fine an attorney, you can file an appeal yourself. Go to this page and click on form A-1. Or call the Essex County Board of Taxation at 973.395.8525. We’ve also been getting lots of tips about EasyTaxFix.com, a service that proports to find your comparables and help you file your appeal for $49.95. We can’t vouch for it, but it is out there.
