Lakewood Has Spent $3 Million to Settle Some of 4,500 Appeals

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lakewood-small1New Jersey towns are besieged by angry property owners who are challenging their valuations. Some 20,000 tax appeals have been filed in Monmouth and Ocean counties this year. That’s a 230 percent increase from 2008, when only 6,067 were filed. Both counties have hired additional staff to deal with all the paperwork. Ocean County’s tax administrator blames the recession and the number of revaluations and reassessments.Lakewood has already spent about $3 million to settle some of the 4,500 appeals. Township tax coordinator Cassandra Johnson says it’s a “nightmare.”

Monmouth County tax administrator Matthew Clark says towns could be forced to raise taxes, cut services of apply for short-term loans if enough appeals are successful.

New Jersey has the nation’s highest property taxes on average.

{Elisha Ferber-Matzav.com Newscenter/AP}


4 COMMENTS

  1. Lakewood township Tax payers could have saved the millions spent. I advised The township Committee, the VAAD, LAC, etc in 2008 how to correct the Assesors office not keeping up with the current market conditions. As a New Jersey State Tax assessor I am more familliar with the tax assessing issues.

    The tax payers were taken for a ride again. In 2010 the Lakewood Tax payers are in for more millions spent for no reason.

  2. Lakewood Senior Citizen developments only filed some 400 appeals, they were going to file en masse, what happened? What was the “deal”?

  3. The system is broke! Why is there such high taxes in NJ???
    Even if you win an appeal so what do you gain a few hundred a year. It is nice but yur still paying a few thousand a year. Maybe it is time to switch to sales tax like in NY and ease off the real estate. RE tax targets the (Rich)homeowners and lets the renters just milk the system. Of course it does trickle down to the renters with higher rent but not as much.

  4. I think this article is misleading. Lakewood has not spent $3 mil on these appeals that is not possible. On what? the clerks calling to offer settlements? I think the $3 million they spent is refering to the peoples reductions in their taxes for this year. The assessor has given settlement offers that will reduce the amount these homeowners pay in taxes by $3 million. Please clarify as what your headline indicates as it is misleading.

    They have not “spent” they have reduced the tax burden on individuals who filed and recieved settlements from the assessors office. “Spending” indicates paying appraisers, attorneys on behalf of Lakewood Township.

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