Township of Ocean – The Revaluation is being completed by the Tax Assessor’s Office. The order to complete the Revaluation has been approved by the Ocean County Board of Taxation and the New Jersey Division of Taxation. The Revaluation is being conducted due to the significant changes in the Real Estate market.
Revaluation is the process of appraising all real estate in a municipality according to its full market value, to ensure that each property owner pays their fair share of taxes. The process is revenue neutral, meaning the purpose is not to raise property taxes. The purpose of the reassessment is to bring the assessed value of all properties within the Township to 100% of market value and to ensure that the property tax assessments are fair and equitable. The last reassessment in the township was in 2005.
The inspections of the more than 4,300 homes and commercial properties will begin in July of 2011. All properties will be physically inspected and outside building dimensions are noted, to help insure the same standard of value. Recent sales in the market place, construction costs, and income & expense data for commercial properties are analyzed as part of the valuation process.
The mailing of the notices of the new assessed values for each property will begin in December of 2011. The notices will also include the property owner’s projected taxes for 2012. Due to the large number of properties the notices will be mailed over a 90 day period. All property owners will receive their notices by the middle of February. Residents will be given the opportunity to arrange for an informal review of the new assessments. A property owner planning to attend the review should be prepared to support any disagreement regarding the appraised value. For example, recent sales of similar or comparable properties are an indication of value. A recent purchase price of the property may also help to support a view as to value. The impact of the new assessments will not affect the property owner’s tax bill until July of 2012. The new tax rate for the 2012 tax year will not be finalized until the new assessments are filed with the Ocean County Board of Taxation and operating budgets for schools, county and local government is fixed. Budgets are not completed until several months after filing the tax list. You should not apply the 2011 tax rate to your new assessment. One third of property owners are expected to see an increase in their property taxes, one third will stay approximately the same, and one third will see a decrease in property taxes.
The Township of Ocean would like to take this opportunity to thank the property owners in advance for your cooperation during the Revaluation process. If any resident should have a question or concern related to the reassessment, they should contact the Tax Assessor’s office at 609-693-3280 extension 231
