Reval Review Finds Most Assessments Correct, But Problems in a Few Areas

Certified Valuations Inc. performed the recent revaluation according to industry standards, but the firm hired by the Township Council to review the company's work found some areas of concern.

"The revaluation company used practices and procedures that are generally accepted," said Richard J. Carabelli Jr.

Carabelli, president of Lawrenceville-based Martin Appraisal Associates, gave an overview of his firm's review of the township's controversial revaluation, which went on the books in 2010. Carabelli is a state-certified tax assessor.

There were a number of testy exchanges between Berkeley Township Taxpayers Coalition President Samuel J. Cammarato and Carabelli after Carabelli's presentation.

"You have impressive credentials," Cammarato said. "We disagree with some of the things you say."

Cammarato said Certified's contract with the township called for resumes to be provided for all employees who did site visits. But the township only has resumes up to a certain year, he said.

"How can we trust any of this if we don't know if the people who came to our homes were certified?" Cammarato said.,

Before the revaluation, properties in Berkeley were assessed at between 40 percent to 50 percent of true market value. After the revaluation, most were close to 100 percent of true market value, Carabelli said.

"The assessment allows the township to distribute the tax burden on properties.. in town. For properties that are worth more, the taxes are higher."

"What we didn't do is individual assessments," Carabelli said. "We looked at Certified's results, we looked at the methods they employed."

Overall, 84 percent of the assessments were accurate. The remaining 16 percent had data collection errors, he said.

Amenities like half baths, decks, pools, fireplaces and extra bedrooms may not have been included in the faulty assessments, Carabelli said.

 "There was a litany of items," he said. "If they (Certified) had one wrong, we failed them. It was a simple pass/fail."

But some of the problems with the assessments were not Certified's fault,  Carabelli said.

"There were a number of homes they were not given access to, so that had to estimate," he said

Carabelli said he will recommend that township Tax Assessor Eric L. Zanetti take another look at two sections of the township - some oceanfront portions in South Seaside Park and some models in the senior villages - and re-examine the assessments.

Carabelli said the report also recommends that Zanetti develop a "compliance plan" which would update assessments in the future.

"It's not a big undertaking," he said. "It's not a financial drain. I don't think you should ever have to do a revaluation again."

Cammarato said there were 375 parcels in nine retirement communities that did not have assessments.

The state statutes regarding condominium communities calls for condo owners to be assessed their interests in common areas in their individual assessments, Carabelli said.

"Neither I or the Berkeley Township Taxpayers Coalition is interested in any seniors paying any more in taxes," Cammarato said. "What we do want is a fair and equitable tax placed on all Berkeley Township residents. Nine communities in retirement communities have properties assessed at zero."

Clubhouses, swimming pools and other amenities in senior communities are not common areas because the communities are largely made up of single-family homes, he said.

Cammarato's remark that if two-thirds of residents in retirement communities agree, they could sell the common areas prompted some murmurs from one side of the room.

"You better read your deeds," he said. "I read every one of them. If property can be sold, it should be assessed."

The controversial revaluation lead to the creation of the Berkeley Township Taxpayers Coalition last year. Residents with waterfront homes on the mainland and in the South Seaside Park section of the township saw their property taxes skyrocket when the new assessments came out in 2010. The township's last revaluation was in 1990.