Friday, April 5, 2013
The townwide reassessment, undertaken because of the growing number of tax appeals, paid significant financial dividends for the borough in 2012.
Fair Lawn refunded nearly $1 million less in taxes to residents and business owners in 2012 than it had the year prior, according to borough finance data obtained by Patch. The substanial decrease, which contributed significantly to replenishing the town's fragile surplus, can be tied directly to a boroughwide property reassessment undertaken last year that reduced the town's rateable base by 18.4 percent. Tax assessor Tim Henderson called the $371,500 reassessment, which re-aligned the borough's assessed property values with market values, a "huge success." "It eliminated our exposure on residential appeals especially," he said. "We still have commercial ones that are at the state but we feel we’ll be pretty successful with those, too." …
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Missed of any this week's news? It's all right here.
As a whole, the town's rateable base decreased 18.4 percent as a result of the reassessment. With questions, concerns and misinformation swirling about the town’s recent reassessment, Patch attempts to clear up some of the confusion by providing an explainer on the process. Many residents have incorrectly calculated their annual tax burden by multiplying their third quarter estimated tax bill by four. A group of Fair Lawn residents is hoping to make a push for elected officials to rethink the way they fund government and public education. Landmark's developer and the planning board's engineer have agreed to work in consultation to recalculate sight lines from a proposed pedestrian crosswalk on Ramsey Terrace at Plaza Road. Attorney Joel …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Many residents have incorrectly calculated their annual tax burden by multiplying their third quarter estimated tax bill by four.
If after the first glance at your estimated third quarter tax bill it appears that, after multiplying by four, your taxes for the year have risen precipitously, don't panic. You performed the calcuation wrong. "That’s not the way you do it," tax assessor Tim Henderson said Wednesday. "You always pay more in the third and fourth quarter than you do in the first two quarters.” Henderson said the most common mistake residents make when calculating their annual tax burden is multiplying their estimated third quarter tax bill by four. "That’s been the biggest thing we've been questioned about," he said. "People look at their new estimated bill and say, 'Oh geez, my taxes are going up this amount of money.'" That's exactly what happened to …
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
With questions, concerns and misinformation swirling about the town’s recent reassessment, Patch will attempt to clear up some of the confusion by providing an explainer on the process.
To combat the dramatic increase in the number of tax appeals being lost by the borough in recent years, a reassessment, which involves inspecting all of the town’s properties to ensure fair and equitable value assessments, was approved by council last fall and conducted over the winter by Appraisal Systems, Inc. for $371,500. To conduct the reassessment, Appraisal Systems was provided with all current Property Record Cards maintained by the assessor’s office. Appraisal Systems reps then performed an exterior inspection of every property in the borough and also made one diligent attempt at an interior inspection of every property. “The state wanted us to make what’s called a diligent attempt to inspect the inside of every house,” borough …
Monday, July 9, 2012
As a whole, the town's rateable base decreased 18.4 percent as a result of the reassessment.
On top of the impending property tax increase -- slated for adoption along with the budget next Tuesday -- some property owners' pocketbooks are set to take an additional, sometimes far greater hit, from the recent reassessment. The reassessment, approved by council last fall and conducted by Appraisal Systems, Inc. over the winter, involved the inspection of all properties in the borough to ensure uniform and equitable property value assessments across the municipality. As a result of the reassessment, the town's total rateable base dropped 18.4 percent, with plummeting residential property values accounting for much of the decline. The average assessed home in Fair Lawn, previously listed at $411,663, is down 21.4 percent to $323,679. …
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Missed any of this week's news? It's all right here
A woman who jumped from the Route 4 overpass at Saddle River Road Sunday night suffered serious injuries, but is expected to live, police said Democratic council members Lisa Swain and Kurt Peluso issued a press release Tuesday asking Republican Mayor Jeanne Baratta and Deputy Mayor Ed Trawinski to pledge not to outsource Fair Lawn's police dispatchers. A man's attempt to burn brush in a backyard fire pit late Friday night got out of control when the flames spread to a neighbor's shed. Over the past decade, Memorial Pool membership rates have remained mostly stable, while revenues have increased in line with higher fees. The borough hopes to be in a position to bid on the installation of solar panels for a number of public buildings, …
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Patch takes a look at the highest assessed properties in Fair Lawn.
Fair Lawn's property value reassessment, completed in March, has shifted a greater portion of the town's tax burden onto commercial property owners and away from residents. Property values have dropped for both homes and businesses, on average, but they have dropped more steeply for homes. The switch has left some business owners -- a few of whom spoke at last week's council meeting -- concerned over the increase in their estimated tax bills. In the first part of a multi-part series about the wide-ranging effects of the reassessment, today Patch takes a look at the town's top taxpayers. -- Fair Lawn's top taxpayers are split evenly among commercial properties, industrial properties and apartments. While commercial properties make up five …
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Borough Council meets Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Due to the election on Nov. 8, there hasn't been a Regular Council Meeting for almost a month. Here's a guide to some of the items on the council's agenda for Tuesday night. On First Reading: The borough is seeking to revise a loophole in its current pay-to-play ordinance. While political contributors are currently barred from receiving no-bid borough contracts, companies that contribute political donations can be hired under a "fair and open" bidding process. A fair and open process is simply one that is advertised in two newspapers and adheres to governing body parameters. The amended ordinance would close this "fair and open" loophole and make $300 the maximum contribution that an entity contracted by the borough can donate per …
Stuart Pace
2:11 pm on Friday, April 5, 2013
Stick to your guns Ms. Palermo. Don't let us revert to games and deceit. more ›