County orders property reassessment in Franklin
By Scott Baker
FRANKLIN — Sussex County’s Board of Taxation recently passed a resolution ordering the Borough of Franklin to reassess each of their properties as the borough “continues to face serious financial exposure from tax appeals,” Franklin tax assessor Scott Holzhauer said.
The motion to grant the $24,800 project to Appraisal Systems, Inc. passed 3-1 at Franklin’s Feb. 26 mayor and council meeting after Mayor Paul Crowley stated, “We really don’t have much choice.”
One benefit of reassessing now, Holzhauer pointed out, is that Appraisal Systems, Inc. has valid field work and inspections on file from a 2010 revaluation. Since this field work carries a four-year period of validity, this reassessment can be done without inspecting, which will save the borough roughly $70,000.
The existing fieldwork and familiarity with the borough is also perhaps the only reason for Appraisal Systems’ acceptance of the project, as they normally work in larger markets, Holzhauer explained. When Councilman Nick Giordano questioned why there would be no bidding for the project, Holzhauer admitted that the other available appraisal firm in the area turned the project down for the same reason.
Why reassess?
The reassessment was mandated in order to preemptively curb the number of incoming tax appeals, which Holzhauer and the County Board of Taxation believe will increase because of the significant loss of property value due to the troubled economy.
Franklin had 32 appeals in 2011 and 38 in 2012, which made for an “unbelievably light” volume considering the statistical analysis of the assessments, Holzhauer said when the reassessment was originally proposed in October. The reason for the light volume, he claimed, was that Franklin “is not an overly litigious town.”
Of the 38 appeals from last year, about a dozen are still on the table — which could cost the borough upwards of $50,000.
The problem with losing money to appeals, Holzhauer explained, is that the portion of the money that goes to the school system has to be expensed by the town and is never recouped or repaid. As an example, he told the public that the municipality only gets about 25 percent of collected tax revenue — another quarter goes to the county and the remaining half goes to the schools. While the county portion is eventually repaid, Holzhauer admitted that Franklin can’t afford to eat any more revenue already paid to the school system.
Municipal Attorney John Ursin pointed out that Franklin has fared better than other similarly sized towns in winning appeals against them, but Holzhauer said there was no pride in that success: “We are able to be successful because we know the rules and proceedings better than the individual.”
The ordinance allowing the reassessment will be introduced for public discussion at the March 12 mayor and council meeting.