The Division of Taxation will hold a public hearing in the borough later this month.
TRENTON -- State officials will hold a public hearing in South River later this month as part of their crackdown on municipalities they say are long overdue for property revaluations, NJ Advance Media has learned.
A state Treasury Department spokesman confirmed the Division of Taxation will take testimony from residents at a July 26 public hearing in the Middlesex County borough. Similar hearings were held in Elizabeth, Jersey City and Dunellen before the state ordered the three local governments to undergo revaluations.
Late last year the state began investigating municipalities that have not held a revaluation or reassessment in at least 25 years. The vast majority of those towns are in Union, Hudson and Middlesex counties. Middlesex County's tax board remains the only one that has not since ordered any revaluations.
Nine boroughs and townships there haven't reassessed in a quarter century. The county Board of Taxation has not ordered any revaluations in 20 years.
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"The Division is taking this action because of the repeated failure by the Middlesex County Board of Taxation to provide proper oversight," Treasury Department spokesman Joe Perone said. "Members of the Middlesex Board have demonstrated an astonishing lack of competence by ignoring their constitutional obligation."
Middlesex County Board of Taxation Administrator Irving Verosloff did not return a call requesting comment, and Richard Lorentzen, president of the Board of Taxation, could not be reached for comment.
The state Constitution requires that all municipalities be uniformly assessed. Property values change with time, and some homeowners will wind up paying too much in property taxes while others pay too little.
South River, according to state records, has not held a revaluation in 29 years.
It is one of five municipalities included in a second round of Division of Taxation investigations. The Hudson and Union county tax boards ordered revaluations of those towns, while South River remains the state's only open investigation.
John Krenzel, mayor of South River, said he plans to attend the public hearing, 6 p.m. on July 26 at the South River VFW. He said he reached out to the state to meet privately but has not received a response.
"What I would say to them privately I will say to them publicly," he said. "This is not the right time to do it."
Krenzel said that South River, which is still feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy, has a unique argument to make.
Nearly 60 homes have already been razed, and the borough faces the prospect of losing another 60 under the state's Blue Acres buyout program, he noted.
Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.