The Board of Taxation agreed to order revaluations in two of its municipalities that haven't held revaluations in at least 25 years.
TRENTON -- Middlesex County's board of taxation, singled out by the state for its reluctance to demand municipal revaluations, will order two towns to reassess their properties by the end of the year.
The county's Board of Taxation voted unanimously last week to comply with the state, which this year has cracked down on municipalities out of compliance with constitutional requirements for fair assessments.
Eight municipalities in Middlesex County have not reset property values in at least a quarter century. When so much time passes, assessed values, which are used to figure property taxes, may no longer reflect market values.
Board President Richard Lorentzen said it has not determined which of the eight will receive the orders.
How Middlesex County is defying N.J.
"We're doing some fact-finding and some statistical analysis and by year end we will order two towns to schedule revaluations," Lorentzen said.
Edison, Woodbridge, South Brunswick, Old Bridge, East Brunswick, South Plainfield, Middlesex and Highland Park are at least 25 years removed from their last revaluations.
The state has already ordered two municipalities there -- South River and Dunellen -- to hold revaluations. Those towns, according to the state's acting director of the Division of Taxation, "fell far below many of the statutory, constitutional and regulatory statistical benchmarks indicating a need for revaluation."
Those benchmarks typically include the ratio of a town's assessed value to market value, the length of time passed since the last revaluation, and the deviation of assessments within the town.
For example, in 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.
Prior to the board's vote, the Division of Taxation had grown increasingly frustrated with the Middlesex County board's failure to act.
"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," Acting Director John Ficara told officials in a letter last month, adding that the board had "failed the citizens of Middlesex County."
The state launched its crackdown last November, targeting three municipalities in Middlesex, Union and Hudson counties. It ordered revaluations for all three -- Jersey City, Elizabeth and Dunellen -- before expanding its investigations to additional towns in those 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.
Lorentzen said the board has preferred to wait for towns to voluntarily undertake revaluations.
"We thought we were making progress, but the state would rather us be a little more aggressive," he said.
Joe Perone, a spokesman for the state Department of Treasury, said Ficara is "pleased that the board is taking appropriate and necessary steps toward complying with the uniformity clause of the state Constitution.
"The director anticipates that in the coming weeks, the county will provide an analysis of which towns are in need of a revaluation and its plan for moving forward."
Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.