The North Bergen Board of Commissioners met on Nov. 24 via Zoom, where the board voted to adopt an ordinance that would begin a tax revaluation of all properties.
The ordinance authorized a special emergency appropriation of $900,000 for the preparation and execution of the revaluation.
Mayor Nicholas Sacco said that during COVID-19 the tax revaluation is not going to be easy. He pointed to home inspections among other things that would need to occur amid the pandemic.
Sacco hopes to get the current surge under control so that the property tax revaluation can proceed safely. North Bergen has been hit hard by the virus in recent months, with nearly 500 new cases each week.
A contractor to perform the tax revaluation has not yet been selected, though proposals are being evaluated.
What is a revaluation
The property tax revaluation is occurring because the assessed value of properties has fallen too far out of sync with the true value.
All municipalities are required by statute to perform property revaluations when the ratio of true value dips to 80 percent of assessed value. The ratio of true value is calculated by dividing the assessed value of a home by its true value, or what that property would go for on the market.
For instance, if a property on one side of town is assessed at $70,000, and that same property’s current market value is $100,000, the ratio of true value would be 70 percent. The objective is to assess all properties at 100 percent true market value.
A revaluation tries to distribute the tax burden within a tax district by appraising each property according to its true value and assessing it for taxation based on that true value. Revals are theoretically not supposed to increase total property tax revenue for a town, but rather more fairly distribute the tax burden in accordance with market rates.
True property values will be determined using statistical studies composed of local property sales data. Property revaluations are known to take a long time to complete because of the arduous map-making process and the requirement that a tax assessment firm gain access to every property using a tape measure. Inspectors are required to make three attempts for each property.
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