Municipalities slammed by tax appeal refunds seek schools and counties to pay their share of the refunds.
Monday April 1, 2013, 10:57 PM
BY DENISA R. SUPERVILLE
STAFF WRITER
The Record
Municipalities slammed by a spike in tax appeals are calling on the state Legislature to require schools and counties — both of which receive a portion of taxes collected by the towns — to pay their share of the refunds.
North Jersey towns say their situation is dire: Saddle Brook, for example, may issue $2.5 million in bonds this year — on top of the $700,000 it issued in 2011 — to pay for its refunds. Teaneck currently owes $2.2 million in rebates to 1,800 taxpayers. Paterson issued $3.3 million in bonds last year.
While towns keep approximately one-third of every tax dollar collected, and sometimes less than that, they are required by law to reimburse the entire amount of the refund if a homeowner successfully challenges a property assessment, officials say.
As the director of the state League of Municipalities put it, the system that has hamstrung towns for years has now put them in a “straitjacket.”
Bergen County property owners filed 12,223 appeals last year, 2,550 more than in 2011 and significantly higher than the 8,986 filed in 2010, according to the County Board of Taxation. About 10,300 tax appeals were filed in Passaic County last year, an increase over about 7,200 appeals filed in 2011, said county spokesman Keith Furlong.
https://www.northjersey.com/bogota/Towns_seek_tax_appeal_refund.html
