Lower Township, which includes such areas as Diamond Beach, North Cape May, and Villas, has decided to do an in-house reassessment of properties. No, not to increase the value of properties, but to lower them.
It seems that when Lower did its last assessment in 2007, the implications of this recession were not fully evident. But now three years of a down market in real estate have seen these assessments appear to be 20% or more too high.
That 2007 assessment tripled the township’s ratables from the 1992 figure of $1.5 billion to over $4.5 million. The new reassessment will be done by the municipal tax department, meaning there will be no on-site inspections. It’s strictly a numbers crunch. It also means that the cost will be just $25,000, instead of the million dollars for a full-blown reassessment by an outside company.
Properties expected to see the biggest drop in values are those near the water, i.e. the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Hopefully Diamond Beach owners, who have historically been a cash cow for Lower despite fewer services and no fire station, will get a fair shake this time around.
Speaking of Diamond Beach, the new Grand condominium complex, located beachfront on Atlantic Avenue, was originally touted by developers and officials as bringing as much as $6 million in new property tax revenue to Lower Township. With one of three buildings completed, just $400,000 is being added to the coffers this year.
The Grand may someday make a big difference in the tax rate, but for now, with Lower this year paying an extra $289,000 in pensions plus a 3.7 % salary increase to municipal employees, that $400,000 from the Grand property taxes has been negated.
Seems like no matter what townships throughout New Jersey do to lower their budgets, the greedy, whiny employees – current and retired – milk the taxpayer far beyond the limits of reason. That, sadly, will never change in our current political climate of patronage and deal-making.
- Mountain Man
