Morristown Property Tax Revaluation Delayed to 2024
Morristown’s first property tax revaluation in nearly 20 years looks like it will have to wait yet another year to be completed. Delays in performing inspections of the properties are the principal reason for the delay in the revaluation, which had been ordered to take place by the Morris County Tax Board and was originally anticipated to finish by the end of 2022. The extension to next year was approved on January 5.
Morristown Tax Assessor Kevin Esposito indicated that the town wanted to make sure all residents were fully informed about the process, leading to delays in commencing the inspection process: “While we were, slow to the draw, if you will, to begin the inspection process. There were reasons for that to make sure that the comfort level existed for our residents,” Esposito said.
Due to the lag in starting the inspections, there was insufficient time for the property tax revaluation process to finish, which involves giving residents time to review the proposed reassessments with the tax assessor and revaluation firm hired by Morristown to complete the revaluation.
The delay to next year was reported in this article by Morristown Patch editor Vianella Burns:
Morristown Tax Revaluation Delayed By Inspection Slowdown | Morristown, NJ Patch
A revaluation program involves the mass appraisal and reassessment of all real property in a taxing district. Its goal is to spread the tax burden fairly and equitably within the town so that everyone who owns property does not pay more than their fair share of taxes. Since New Jersey municipalities are not required to reassess or revalue property tax assessments every year, they typically rely upon an “equalization ratio” which attempts to take into account any changes in the real estate market between the date that the tax assessment was established and the date of any future year. Morristown’s revaluation is its first one since 2004 and is thought to be overdue after years of major redevelopment projects throughout the town.
When a revaluation is performed, the tax assessments are revised to reflect the anticipated current market value but, because the tax rate also usually changes, a revaluation does not automatically imply that all property owners will experience higher property tax bills.
We previously covered the Morristown tax revaluation in this blog post.
Stay tuned for more updates as the Morristown property tax revaluation process continues to unfold.
