By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council postponed action Wednesday night on a proposed tax appeal settlement that would slash the assessment on a downtown bank property by almost one-third.
But the delay, requested by Mayor Pasquale Menna, was not motivated by an objection to the terms of the deal, he said.
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.
The OceanFirst Bank headquarters was the subject of a reverse appeal case settled Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Bombarded by criticism from the business community, the Red Bank council on Wednesday dropped a plan to pursue a new round of “reverse appeals” against commercial properties it believed to be undertaxed.
But first, the council approved the settlement of an older reverse appeal that will boost the taxable value of a downtown building by 69 percent over three years. And battles over cases filed in 2018 continue.
A law firm hired by the borough says 8 East Front Street, which sold last year for $5.68 million, is improperly assessed at just under $3 million. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A year after authorizing a law firm to go after owners of properties believed to be undertaxed, the Red Bank council is expected to renew its “aggressive” approach this week.
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Mayor Pasquale Menna shows off the 1925 and 1926 tax bills for a Red Bank property during Wednesday’s council meeting. How much were they? Read on. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The borough of Red Bank, hammered in recent years by tax appeals, is going “aggressive” at the urging of Mayor Pasquale Menna.
At its semimonthly meeting Wednesday night, the council approved hiring a law firm to sue commercial property owners whose assessments appear to be low relative to the real estate market.
Red Bank resident and data maven Tom Labetti has created an interactive map showing changes in borough property assessments from 2016 to 2017.
Based on data Labetti compiled by Tax Assessor Mitch Elias under a new Assessment Demonstration Program in which the borough is participating, the map is searchable by individual addresses as well as by degree of change in assessed values.
A Sea Bright home as seen from the sea wall five days after Hurricane Sandy. Borough officials contend the number of severely damaged homes is being underestimated by a state agency. (Click to enlarge)
By WIL FULTON
Six months after Hurricane Sandy walloped the region, Sea Bright officials find themselves in a disagreement with a state agency over the financial impact of the storm.
The dispute, centered on newly released New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA)s data on the extent of storm destruction in town, was one of a handful of post-Sandy issues that dominated Tuesday nights council meeting.
The DCA released some numbers that gave statistics from Sea Bright, Mayor Dina Long told the audience, and they said there were 574 homes with damage. Of those homes, 32 had major damage damage between $8,000 and $28,000; and 63 homes suffered severe damage over $28,000 worth of damage.
Based on where I live, and what it cost to fix even my own house, I really feel like these numbers are not reflecting an on-the-ground truth, she said.