The Bank of America branch is identified in the settlement as both tenant and taxpayer at 170 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A drive-thru bank in downtown Red Bank would get a 32-percent cut in its property tax assessment under a resolution up for consideration by the council Wednesday night.
On the agenda for the governing body’s semimonthly meeting is a resolution that would settle a tax appeal for 170 Broad Street, where a Bank of America branch is both the tenant and taxpayer, according to the document.
The bank offers both drive-thru and walk-in services at the one-story, 13,874-square-foot building, located across the street from the downtown post office. The appeal dates to 2017, and predates the COVID-19 crisis.
The agreement would reduce the assessment on the property by 10.4 percent for 2018; 20.6 percent for 2019; and 32.4 percent percent for 2020, according to figures supplied in the resolution.
In dollar amounts, the proposed assessment for 2018 was $5.28 million, which would be cut down to $4.73 million. For the final year of the settlement, the proposed assessment of $5.52 million would be slashed to $3.73 million, according to the resolution.
The bank and the property owner, Park Street Real Estate Co. LLC, would withdraw an appeal for 2017, the resolution says.
Park Street, based in Paramus, paid $5.2 million for building and parking lot in 2012, according to Monmouth County records. Last year, the property bill for the joint address was $126,700.
Borough officials did not respond to redbankgreen requests for information on the rationale for the steep change in assessments.
The council meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Here’s the full agenda.
Under COVID-19 social distancing regulations, the meeting will be conducted via Zoom. Information about access and participation via the Internet or phone is posted on the borough website here.
