Brick Township officials are beginning a multi-year property revaluation ordered by Ocean County, with the process expected to carry a multimillion-dollar price tag and new assessments ultimately determining how the local tax burden is distributed.
BRICK TOWNSHIP, NJ — Brick Township is moving forward with a township-wide property revaluation, beginning a lengthy process that will reassess homes, businesses and other taxable properties across the municipality while costing taxpayers potentially millions of dollars to complete.
Councilman Gregory J. Cohen said the looming reassessment is likely to generate concern among homeowners, particularly seniors and others living on fixed incomes.
The process will begin immediately and will be completed by November 2028. Residents will see changes in their property tax bills in 2029.
Township officials told the council the Brick Township administration did not seek an extension from Ocean County before moving ahead with the revaluation.
Councilman Greg Cohen asked directly whether the township had tried to delay the process.
“Did we ask for an extension?” he asked.
Business Administrator Joanne Bergin said the township had not.
“The county told us we have to,” Bergin said, adding that seeking a delay “would just be kicking the can down the road.”
Revaluation Could Cost Millions Over Several Years
The township has asked the council to prepare for as much as $4 million in spending connected to the revaluation process, with discussion centering on an estimated cost of roughly $800,000 per year.
That price tag immediately drew attention during the council discussion.
“$800,000 a year for five years is a lot of money,” Cohen said.
“Of course it is,” Bergin replied.
The revaluation itself involves reviewing properties throughout Brick and assigning updated assessments intended to reflect current market values. New Jersey requires real property to be assessed uniformly, and county tax boards can order municipalities to conduct revaluations when existing assessments no longer fairly reflect relative property values.
The New Jersey Division of Taxation says the purpose of a revaluation is to redistribute the property tax burden more equitably when values have changed unevenly across neighborhoods and individual properties.
Cohen Warns of Anxiety Among Homeowners
“The revaluation triggers anxiety over tax hikes, particularly for our senior community on fixed income,” Cohen said.
That concern does not necessarily mean every homeowner will see a higher tax bill, but in recent re-evaluations in Toms River and Jackson, seniors in older homes paying lower property taxes were hit particularly hard.
A revaluation changes assessed property values; it does not, by itself, determine how much money the township, school district, county and other taxing entities collectively raise.
New Jersey calculates property tax rates based on the amount government entities need to collect and the total assessed value of taxable property. As a result, after a revaluation, some property owners can pay more, some can pay less and others may see relatively little change depending on how the value of their property moved compared with the rest of the municipality.
The Ocean County Board of Taxation provides additional information for residents about the revaluation process and tax assessment procedures.
Brick Residents Will Eventually Receive New Property Values
For homeowners, the most closely watched part of the process will come when individual properties receive their new assessments. Some will go up. Some will go down. Others will stay the same.
Professional appraisers generally examine property characteristics, neighborhood conditions, recent comparable sales and other market information before establishing updated values. Property owners are notified of proposed assessments and have procedures available to challenge valuations they believe do not reflect fair market value.
The issue carries particular weight in Ocean County, where home values have changed considerably across waterfront, retirement, suburban and inland neighborhoods.
Shore News Network previously reported on Brick Township property taxes and the municipal budget, including how the municipal portion represents only one component of the overall property tax bill.
As the revaluation moves forward, residents will be watching both the cost of conducting the review and what the eventual reassessments mean for individual households.