TOMS RIVER, NJ – Toms River Mayor Mo Hill and the Toms River Township Council have announced a new property reevaluation. Historically, municipal revaluations balance residents’ fair share of property taxes meaning some people may see increases, others might see decreases, and others will see little change.
In order to perform the assessment, assessors must be granted access to your home and Hill warns, defiance of the reassessment is illegal.
“Defiance is both illegal and unconstitutional. The Township has no discretion once a County and State ordered property tax revaluation is ordered,” the letter from Hill’s office read today. “Toms River Township has been ordered to revalue all properties by the County Tax Board. That order was reinforced by the State Attorney General. We were successful in obtaining two 1-year extensions. It is illegal to defy the County Tax Board’s order.”
The township told residents the revaluation order, and the various benchmarks it imposes, are mandatory both statutorily and constitutionally. In issuing a revaluation order, the County Board may not act unilaterally or arbitrarily. The order must be based on specific criteria established by state regulation and statute and must be approved by the Director of the Division of Taxation. Thus, a revaluation order is not a “take-it-or-leave-it” bureaucratic recommendation, but effectively a state edict of constitutional dimension.
The township initially was ordered to perform the reevaluation in 2018 but applied for extensions in 2019 and 2020. Now, with the housing market boom in areas such as North Dover, and in waterfront properties, many could see their assessed values drastically increase.
You can read the full letter here.