A bill introduced in the Assembly would withhold financial aid to towns that wait to long to undergo revaluations.
TRENTON -- A new bill introduced by a Republican assemblyman raises the stakes for New Jersey municipalities that wait too long to reassess their properties and the tax boards that let them.
Under Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon's bill, the state would withhold state aid from towns that let their assessed value fall far behind their market value, a symptom of overdue revaluations.
O'Scanlon's bill seizes on Gov. Chris Christie's administration's own stepped up enforcement of municipalities that it says have neglected their legal duty to ensure fair property assessments, key in determining the real estate taxes home and business owners owe.
The state Division of Taxation has ordered three municipalities -- Jersey City, Elizabeth and Dunellen -- to undergo revaluations and announced investigations into more. In total, more than 30 municipalities haven't held reassessments in at least 25 years, and most of those are in Hudson, Union and Middlesex counties.
N.J. orders property revaluations in 3 towns
The state Treasury Department took the unusual step of criticizing those tax boards, saying their intransigence enabled municipalities within their jurisdictions to become "the most dramatically out of compliance with constitutional and statutory provisions."
Municipalities can voluntarily undertake a revaluation or a county tax board can order it. O'Scanlon's bill would require tax boards to force a revaluation at a town's expense and would give state officials the authority to remove from office any board of taxation member who "willfully or intentionally failed, neglected or refused to comply with the requirements."
"The need for the bill may be obviated by the action the state has taken now, but we should never again have a situation where municipal officials can avoid doing revaluations to the detriment of everybody. To the detriment of their own constituents," O'Scanlon (R-Monmouth) said.
Reassessments and revaluations are meant to standardize property values used to determine how much each property own owes. When assessments get out of whack, some property owners wind up paying too much while others pay too little.
"It's a kick in the gut to the people who very likely can least afford it, to pay more than their fair share of taxes" he added.
O'Scanlon would deny financial aid to these municipalities where the assessed value of the entire town is less than 85 percent of the real market value for five years. In Elizabeth, for example, the so-called director's ratio is 13.4 percent. It also hasn't held a revaluation in four decades.
This year's budget includes $1.5 billion in municipal aid to towns, cities, townships and villages that helps them hold down property taxes. That figure includes about $100 million in special "transitional aid" to ailing municipalities.
"If it takes state legislation to force these (municipal officials) to instill fairness, so be it," O'Scanlon said, "because it's the only stick I have."
The state would only refuse aid if the ratio of assessed value to market value drops below 85 percent for five years in a row, which should give municipalities time to get their house in order, he said.
"I want to be fair, but I also want to say get your ass in gear," he said.
Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.