(See the letter below)
"This came as a real shock," Desiderio told the TC, indicating he planned to attend the tax board's next meeting set for today. "Apparently, a significant number of towns in Essex County received the same letter."
A revaluation is a reassessment of the value of each property in the township used to designate tax rates for each property.
Desiderio said he planned to let the tax board know that if a revaluation is ordered, Maplewood would not want to be forced to pay for it, a price he said can run between $350,000 and $500,000.
"I am prepared to say, with your consent, that if this is a mandate someone else should be paying for it," Desiderio told the governing body.
You may recall, a revaluation in 2000 resulted in a major shift in tax rates with some property owners seeing a 50% tax hike, while others saw a major decrease. That prompted anger and outrage and led to several Township Committee members being voted out of office. A more recent revaluation occurred in 2011, but with less-significant impact.
"What drives me crazy is there are towns in Union County who have not had a revaluation for 30 years," Desiderio said. "Springfield hasn't had one in 30 years and I don't think Elizabeth has had one in 40 years."
Desiderio said Essex County is also seeking to have Maplewood and South Orange conduct revaluations at the same time in order to apply similar standards for the school district. "Having us do it the same time as South Orange does it is not a bad idea," Mayor Vic Deluca said.
Desiderio indicated that the current property values and tax-related assessments have not prompted many tax appeals, which are often a sign of the need, or not, for a new revaluation.
"The number of appeals we have had on the residentials was relatively small," he said of the 2015 appeals, noting about 80 were filed this year. "Not a lot." He also said the township won about 70% of the appeals.
The letter is below:
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