Every few years, my job as a Realtor becomes a lot busier, but not because I'm listing and selling homes, in Northwest Bergen County --- Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff, in particular. It's because of the dreaded REVALUATION!! This is the time where towns realize the taxes they collect aren't enough to pay for the programs they've promised their residents. What to do. What to do,
For the last 25+ years, I've asked the same question of all the Assessors I've worked with --- why don't you assess homes for as close to REAL MARKET VALUE as you can, then raise the tax rate to meet the needs of the residents? But, they continue to tack on numbers that are so obviously in excess of the real value of the homes that there's a stampede to meet with the appraisers who came up with what I call Market Values in Fantasyland.
For years, towns have been overwhelmed with homeowners standing on lines outside their offices demanding an explanation of their latest assessment. It got so bad that towns like Wyckoff arranged for homeowners to meet with homeowners so they could each explain their case. The only way a homeowner could make a case for a tax reduction would be to bring comparable homes that sold between October 15 of the previous year to October 15 of the current year. Guess how they get those comps? Bingo --- Realtors!
So here's my solution: Assessors, taxpayers are on to you. They know you think they'll feel better to see their home has increased in value, and you have kept the tax rate "low." The problem is it makes no sense, much like the equalization ratio. It's called "cookin' the books."
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