Glouco plans N.J. 1st: County-run tax assessment

Gloucester County officials estimate they could save taxpayers more than $1.5 million annually under their new county-run tax-assessment program, the first of its kind in the state. The pilot program will be phased in over a three-year period, beginning this month.

The county assessor's office plans to conduct revaluations and assume other responsibilities that have been handled by assessors appointed in 24 municipalities.

Mayors from five municipalities today will sign cooperative agreements allowing the county to provide the service. They represent the county's largest municipality, Washington Township, and Glassboro, National Park, South Harrison, and West Deptford.

"This gets the ball rolling so we can begin the revaluation process for these towns this year," state Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney said in a statement. Sweeney, who is also Gloucester's freeholder director, sponsored a bill that created the pilot program last year. The state will pay $7.7 million in grants over the next five years to fund it.

Sweeney touted the program as a cost-saving shared service that is in step with countywide assessment systems in 38 other states. The freeholders will appoint the assessor and deputies who will do the work.

"The towns will stay closer to true property value consistently," Debbie Sellitto, county spokeswoman, said, describing another goal of the program. Properties in some municipalities are currently assessed only at 50 or 60 percent of true value, and a countywide system will make taxation fairer, she said.

Washington Township Mayor Matt Lyons said he welcomed the savings the program should bring.

"The constraints and the strain on local government right now are so difficult and overwhelming, that the ability to receive funding from the county - through the state - to undertake this program is fortunate," Lyons said. Otherwise, he said, "we'd have no alternative than to pass the cost on to taxpayers."

Lyons said the township anticipated paying more than $1 million to conduct a revaluation this year, which could have boosted the tax rate 3 to 4 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. He said the task has been ignored for about 10 years and would have required extra help.

Sellitto said six other municipalities that did revaluations in the last two years would be reimbursed their cost. "It's only fair," she said, since the other towns will have the county handle theirs. Those communities are Harrison, Monroe, Newfield, Wenonah, and Elk.

Critics, however, say the pilot program is unfair to towns in other counties that won't receive any state funding. And the Association of Municipal Assessors of New Jersey maintains that the projected savings are incorrect because they don't consider the cost of handling tax appeals.

When the program is operating, the state commission charged with evaluating shared services will review its effectiveness. The Local Unit Alignment Reorganization and Consolidation Commission will make recommendations and decide whether it should be a model adopted by other counties in the state.