TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Paul A. Sarlo which would streamline the property tax reassessment process in order to provide quicker relief for property taxpayers during the current national recession was unanimously approved by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee today.
“Homeowners are dealing with the fallout from a nearly unprecedented economic crisis and the bursting of the national real estate bubble,” said Senator Sarlo, D-Bergen, Essex and Passaic. “As a result, many property taxpayers may be paying taxes on property which very simply isn’t worth what it used to be. This bill simplifies the mechanism by which neighborhoods can reassess property values in a declining real estate market, in order to hopefully bring some measure of relief to hard-hit taxpayers more quickly.”
The bill, S-2711, would provide municipal tax assessors, county tax administrators and county boards of taxation with enhanced flexibility to address declining property assessments. The bill would streamline the process by which an assessor performs a reassessment of a portion of a taxing district, by removing multiple layers of notification and approval that exist under current law. Senator Sarlo noted that simplifying this procedure would allow tax assessors to more quickly and efficiently reevaluate neighborhoods where property values have plummeted as a result of the current recession and declining real estate market around the nation.
“Property taxes in New Jersey are out of control, and any relief we can provide to taxpayers has to be pursued,” said Senator Sarlo. “However, particularly when New Jersey families are dealing with the effects of a global economic meltdown, every cent saved on their property tax bills becomes all the more important. This bill gives tax assessors more flexibility and less bureaucracy in order to effectively and efficiently lower people’s property taxes in a declining real estate market, at a time when New Jersey families need all the help they can get.”
The bill now heads to the full Senate for consideration.