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Middlesex County is under fire by state for refusing to do property tax revaluations

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The director of the Division of Taxation said he's "profoundly disappointed" with the Middlesex County tax board.

TRENTON -- The state's top tax officer is intensifying criticism of Middlesex County officials for refusing to order property revaluations, saying they've "shirked their responsibilities" to their residents.

John Ficara, the director of the Division of Taxation, admonished the county officials in a letter dated Sept. 28, obtained through an open records request, in which he wrote "The tax board has failed the citizens of Middlesex County by refusing to act in the face of overwhelming evidence of noncompliance within the tax board's jurisdiction."

The letter is the latest step in the state's crackdown on municipalities that have allowed at least 25 years to lapse between revaluations.

Middlesex County's tax board has not issued a revaluation order in more than two decades, according to the Division of Taxation.

How Middlesex County is defying N.J.

Eight municipalities in Middlesex County have not reset property values in a quarter century. This becomes a concern because when too much time passes, property valuations can grow out of whack, and some owners wind up paying too much while others pay too little.

The state has already ordered two municipalities there -- South River and Dunellen -- to hold revaluations. Those towns, Ficara said, "fell far below many of the statutory, constitutional and regulatory statistical benchmarks indicating a need for revaluation.

But Edison, Woodbridge, South Brunswick, Old Bridge, East Brunswick, South Plainfield, Middlesex and Highland Park are also at least 25 years removed from their last revaluations. Depending on other factors, such as a town's ratio of assessed value to market value or the deviation within the town, those municipalities may also be out of compliance, Ficara said.

For example, Woodbridge Township, which hasn't held a revaluation since 1986, the taxable assessed value -- $3.1 billion -- is 27.5 percent of the "true value" -- $11.4 billion.

Ficara has given the Middlesex County Board of taxation a deadline to outline its plans to bring the remaining municipalities up to date.

"To say that I am profoundly disappointed with your tax board's performance and refusal to meet statutory, constitutional and regulatory obligations would be a gross understatement," he said in the letter.

A spokesman for the Department of Treasury, Joe Perone, confirmed the letter but declined further comment.

County Tax Administrator Irving Verosloff and Richard Lorentzen, president of the Board of Taxation, did not respond to requests for comment.

The state launched its crackdown in November, initially targeting three municipalities in Middlesex, Union and Hudson counties. It ordered revaluations there before expanding its investigations to additional towns in those three counties.

Unlike Union County, which responded by ordering revaluations in Westfield and Winfield, and Hudson County, which did the same in East Newark and Harrison, Middlesex County has not issued any orders.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

 

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