Revaluation inspections will be getting under way
BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer

ENGLISHTOWN - Residents will be getting a surprise in their mailbox soon, if they have not already received it.

Sometime this month, all property owners in the borough should be receiving a letter from Certified Valuations Inc., of Randolph, informing them that the property they own will be reassessed.

Certified Valuations was hired by the Borough Council for $66,355 to conduct a complete revaluation of all property in town, according to Borough Administra-tor and Chief Financial Officer Laurie Finger. There are approximately 700 properties in Englishtown.

Englishtown was directed to under-take the revaluation by the Monmouth County Board of Taxation. Finger said it has been more than a decade since the town's last revaluation was conducted.

Inspections of all properties in town will be made this year to become effective in the 2008 budget year, Finger said.

Representatives of Certified Valua-tions made a presentation to the council on July 11 and provided a time frame for the work the firm will be doing. On-site visits will be made to every property, and from the information that is gathered at that time, a new value will be placed on each parcel. The inspections should begin this month and be completed by Oct. 1, according to Finger.

In November, all property owners will receive a letter which will inform them of the new assessed value of their property. Between November and January, people who do not agree with the new assess-ment may meet with a representative of the firm and present evidence that they believe proves their property deserves a different assessment, Finger said.

If the assessment is not changed to the property owner's satisfaction following the meeting with Certified Valua-tions, that person may file a formal appeal with the Monmouth County tax board between February and April.

In other news, the council recently adopted a $1,950,055 municipal budget for 2007. The amount to be raised by taxation this year will be $799,236.

The municipal tax rate for 2007 will remain at 78.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, she said. That means the owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $133,300 will continue to pay $1,044 in municipal taxes, the same as in 2006. The owner of a home assessed at $200,000 will continue to pay $1,570 in municipal taxes.

Officials are anticipating using $525,000 in surplus funds to offset costs in the 2007 budget.

Englishtown's budget in 2006 totaled $1,936,084 and the amount raised by taxation was $763,967. The municipal tax rate increased from 72.5 cents in 2005 to 78.5 cents in 2006. There is no increase in the tax rate from 2006 to 2007, Finger said.

No new services are being planned by the borough and no new municipal employees will be hired, she said.