Appraisal Letters are Arriving/Have Arrived

Called today and requested a phone call return tomorrow to confirm what my assessed value was based on. Of course we won't know how that affects our taxes for a while. See this link for more info:
https://www.maplewoodnj.gov/residents/2024-revaluation-copy
Following closely and looking forward to a good discussion. 

Edited to add: I see the letter lists not only the 2023 Assessed value and the 2023 annual taxes but also the 2024 assessed value and estimate annual taxes. So I think I understand - but will confirm tomorrow - that things are ok at my residence and/or in my sector.

Every house's assessment will apparently be on the township reval site EOW.  

I spoke with the town assessor earlier today.  Letters have gone out.  Town website is being revised to reflect this.  As of this morning the website still stated that letters had not yet been sent out. Comps have been posted on PPA's website but are not identified by Assessment District.   An online map with assessments and percentage increases is promised to be up by Wednesday.  Assessments become final on January 6th but may be extended if not everyone who wants to has time to meet in person or over the phone with representative(s) of the PPA.  In person appointments will be available three days a week, with an estimated 200 appointments per day.  Updated record cards are not yet available.

ETA:  The information I received differs from the information at the link Wendy provided.  Per Wendy's link, the town website has been updated to show that letters have gone out (I have yet to receive mine).  The number of available appointments seems fewer than the number I was given.  Five days, only one of which is on a weekend, with the weekend date being the date I was told the assessments would be final, does not appear to be sufficient to meet everyone's needs.  

According to my letter, my 2024 assessment went up $217k but my taxes dropped $1500. I guess I dodged a bullet

FWIW, my taxes went up 35% after the last reval. After this one, despite my house assessment going up 51%, my tax rate went down 3.1%. It's still too high for what we own, but I guess the privilege of living with all you fine folk makes it almost worth it. 

Joan did you read all the info? Seems not.

The estimated 2024 total annual taxes are calculated using the 2023 budget. I think that means when the annual 2024 budget increase is finalized, it's likely every single "estimated 2024" annual taxes, as indicated on the letters, will end up being an underestimate for everyone.

wendy said:

Called today and requested a phone call return tomorrow to confirm what my assessed value was based on. Of course we won't know how that affects our taxes for a while. See this link for more info:
https://www.maplewoodnj.gov/residents/2024-revaluation-copy
Following closely and looking forward to a good discussion. 

Edited to add: I see the letter lists not only the 2023 Assessed value and the 2023 annual taxes but also the 2024 assessed value and estimate annual taxes. So I think I understand - but will confirm tomorrow - that things are ok at my residence and/or in my sector.

The 2024 estimated annual taxes are based on your new assessed value and the 2023 budget. This does not include any increase for the 2024 budget.

I have seen a lot of chatter today on FB about the new assessment. It never fails to amaze me how many residents have no idea how the revaluation works or how the taxes are calculated.  

wendy said:

Joan did you read all the info? Seems not.

I didn’t see all the info I would need to determine if my real property valuation is accurate.  Comps are not broken out by assessment area so I can only guess which comps were used to determine my property’s true valuation (My property borders two assessment areas and has been placed in the wrong one previously) There is no breakout I can find of land value vs structure value.  There is no information available on measurements, room count, or age/quality of kitchen and bathrooms.  No mention of how the basement level was valued.  I did finally receive my letter and the information it contained regarding number and schedule of meetings with PPA differed markedly from what the town official told me.  There is also the issue of the last of the meeting dates being scheduled for the date I was told the valuations would be certified by the town.    I plan to follow up today.

That was my point. I was referring to a current letter and you were quoting old information from a town official. As to all the information, I have scheduled a call this morning for an appraiser to call me and go over things on the phone to confirm that the same measurements, valuation of basement and attic are the same as the last assessment. (In the last assessment I had to follow up as they had mistakenly listed my attic as a bedroom when it certainly is not on any scale - no heat, no closets, etc.) If for some reason the phone call is not fully satisfactory for me then I will make an appointment to meet in person. This is just how it was done before. This is why I gave you and others the link, etc. Your quoting old info from the town was not helpful I believe and muddied the clear information I was giving when I started this thread. I hope you now understand that.

sprout said:

The estimated 2024 total annual taxes are calculated using the 2023 budget. I think that means when the annual 2024 budget increase is finalized, it's likely every single "estimated 2024" annual taxes, as indicated on the letters, will end up being an underestimate for everyone.

The point is it's for everyone as yes budgets increase every year. But compare 2024 Estimated Annual Taxes to 2023 Total annual taxes to see if your tax rate stayed about the same or went up or down considerably.

For those around during the long over due revaluation remember the vitriol between folks in different neighborhoods (since for so many years the "east" side of town had an extensively higher tax rate per property value than the "west" side of town). Folks voted out of office over that (fortunately the competent ones came back).

Shout out to Professional Property Appraisers who promptly called me this morning and we went over the details by phone of my home. There was no need for a meeting for me as all he had jibed with what I have in my house (and what I do not have).  Highly recommend calling and more likely than not, a meeting may not be necessary beyond a phone call.

yahooyahoo said:

I have seen a lot of chatter today on FB about the new assessment. It never fails to amaze me how many residents have no idea how the revaluation works or how the taxes are calculated.

“With online commenters, always a little patience.” — Spanish peasant proverb and inspiration for Macaulay Connor’s short story “With Online Commenters”

I scheduled a face to face meeting for December 13th since I have found errors in every prior revaluation that was conducted of my property during the time I have been in this house.  Hopefully, criteria will be accurate this time.

My estimated taxes for 2024 are lower despite a significant increase in assessment. I’ll bet folding money my estimated 2024 tax is not going to be lower.   They told me I couldn’t have a copy of my assessment/appraisal which should be customary. 

Assessment UP and taxes DOWN! I was bracing for an increase, so I'm happy with this outcome.

Death and taxes, baby!

the_18th_letter said:

My estimated taxes for 2024 are lower despite a significant increase in assessment. I’ll bet folding money my estimated 2024 tax is not going to be lower.   They told me I couldn’t have a copy of my assessment/appraisal which should be customary. 

I spoke with PPA this morning and they said they do not supply this information with the assessment letters, so the town may not have it.  However, as Wendy posted above, if you contact PPA and ask for the basis for your individual real property revaluation, they will provide the information over the phone, during a video conference, or an in person meeting.  The phone number to call is in the body of your assessment letter.

the_18th_letter said:

My estimated taxes for 2024 are lower despite a significant increase in assessment. I’ll bet folding money my estimated 2024 tax is not going to be lower.   They told me I couldn’t have a copy of my assessment/appraisal which should be customary. 

I depends on how much lower your taxes are due to the assessment.  

For example, if your taxes went down 2% then most likely your taxes in 2024 will still be higher because our annual tax increase will be above 2%.

As I remember from previous years,each house has a small card. On the card are the specifics for your house such as number of rooms,bathrooms, square footage,etc. By looking at this you can tell if they have the correct info for your home. We should be able to ask for this card.

galileo said:

As I remember from previous years,each house has a small card. On the card are the specifics for your house such as number of rooms,bathrooms, square footage,etc. By looking at this you can tell if they have the correct info for your home. We should be able to ask for this card.

This card will not be available until February.  The town expects to certify the new valuations before then.  You can get the information that would have been on the card by meeting with a PPA representative over the phone, in video conference or in person.  Call the phone number on your assessment letter to schedule.  There are only 5 dates available for in person appointments (see information on town website).  

The coefficient of deviation for Maplewood for 2023 is 16.88. The COD for South Orange is 16.60. If your new assessment is >than the COD, your taxes would have  been higher if the new assessment had been in effect in 2023. If your new assessment is < than the COD, your taxes would have been lower. 

Here's the link for the COD table published by the state: 

https://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/pdf/lpt/CoefficientDeviations.pdf

How does the senior tax freeze figure into this?

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

How does the senior tax freeze figure into this?

Good question. Does the freeze level get adjusted?

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

How does the senior tax freeze figure into this?

It doesn't.  As long as combined household income is below the cap, your taxes are frozen at the rate you paid in your base year.  It is highly unlikely that your taxes would have dropped below that base year rate.

wendy said:

sprout said:

The estimated 2024 total annual taxes are calculated using the 2023 budget. I think that means when the annual 2024 budget increase is finalized, it's likely every single "estimated 2024" annual taxes, as indicated on the letters, will end up being an underestimate for everyone.

The point is it's for everyone as yes budgets increase every year. But compare 2024 Estimated Annual Taxes to 2023 Total annual taxes to see if your tax rate stayed about the same or went up or down considerably.

I basically was aware of this -- but the paragraph after the bold "2024 ESTIMATED ANNUAL TAXES" does not make it very clear to readers that the 2024 taxes are likely to be higher than this amount for everyone, it just alludes to the future 'budgetary adjustments in 2023 that are yet to be determined" (which will take effect in 2024 budget? Or did they mean to say 2024 here instead of 2023?)

Also, I don't think the estimated annual taxes are telling us about our 'tax rate' (as we will all have the same rate), but how much one's property appraisal increased relative to everyone else's. 

E.g., my property's assessed value increased a whole lot (by almost 50%). But my estimated 2024 taxes are estimated to be about $1k lower. 

• So this means many other people had their property value increase by an even larger percentage than mine... And it's those people who will have higher estimated 2024 taxes on their letter. 
  

joan_crystal said:

I spoke with PPA this morning and they said they do not supply this information with the assessment letters, so the town may not have it.  However, as Wendy posted above, if you contact PPA and ask for the basis for your individual real property revaluation, they will provide the information over the phone, during a video conference, or an in person meeting.  The phone number to call is in the body of your assessment letter.

I spoke with someone but the young lady did not seem sure of what she was reading about my house. Sure would be nice to look at the same thing the young lady was looking at before it’s finalized.  I’m not sure she notated corrections properly. 

the_18th_letter said:

I spoke with someone but the young lady did not seem sure of what she was reading about my house. Sure would be nice to look at the same thing the young lady was looking at before it’s finalized.  I’m not sure she notated corrections properly. 

Request an in person interview.  Then you should be able to see what their representative is referring to.  Bring a copy of your most recent record card with you so you can compare for any changes.

sprout said:

wendy said:

sprout said:

The estimated 2024 total annual taxes are calculated using the 2023 budget. I think that means when the annual 2024 budget increase is finalized, it's likely every single "estimated 2024" annual taxes, as indicated on the letters, will end up being an underestimate for everyone.

The point is it's for everyone as yes budgets increase every year. But compare 2024 Estimated Annual Taxes to 2023 Total annual taxes to see if your tax rate stayed about the same or went up or down considerably.

I basically was aware of this -- but the paragraph after the bold "2024 ESTIMATED ANNUAL TAXES" does not make it very clear to readers that the 2024 taxes are likely to be higher than this amount for everyone, it just alludes to the future 'budgetary adjustments in 2023 that are yet to be determined" (which will take effect in 2024 budget? Or did they mean to say 2024 here instead of 2023?)

Also, I don't think the estimated annual taxes are telling us about our 'tax rate' (as we will all have the same rate), but how much one's property appraisal increased relative to everyone else's. 

E.g., my property's assessed value increased a whole lot (by almost 50%). But my estimated 2024 taxes are estimated to be about $1k lower. 

• So this means many other people had their property value increase by an even larger percentage than mine... And it's those people who will have higher estimated 2024 taxes on their letter. 
  

They are just trying to give everyone perspective on whether their tax bill is going up or down due to the revaluation. What would have been better is if they said your 2023 taxes would have been XX based on the new assessment.  Bringing 2024 into it is confusing.

joan_crystal said:

the_18th_letter said:

I spoke with someone but the young lady did not seem sure of what she was reading about my house. Sure would be nice to look at the same thing the young lady was looking at before it’s finalized.  I’m not sure she notated corrections properly. 

Request an in person interview.  Then you should be able to see what their representative is referring to.  Bring a copy of your most recent record card with you so you can compare for any changes.

I know it's probably been posted before, but I can't find it now. How do we get a copy of our most recent record card?