- 1). Every January or February, homeowners in New Jersey get a postcard from their Tax Assessor with the assessed value of their home. Look on the postcard for the Assessment Total. This number is NOT an estimate of your home's value. For that, we have to do a little math.
- 2). Go to this website: www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/lpt/chapter123.shtml Click on your county. Find the 3 Tax Ratios for your city. If these 3 Tax Ratios are not between 0 and 1, then divide them by 100. For example, if your 3 Tax Ratios are 24.86, 29.25, and 33.64, then divide them by 100 to get .2486, .2925, and .3364 Now they are between 0 and 1.
- 3). Divide the Assessment Total on the postcard by the middle of the 3 Tax Ratios. If the Assessment Total is 200,000 and the middle Tax Ratio is .2925, the result is 200000/.2925 = 683,761. This result is your Tax Assessor's estimate of your home's value.
- 4). Your Tax Assessor is allowed to be wrong by up to 15% when estimating the value of your home. To calculate 15% below what your Tax Assessor estimates your home's value to be, divide the Assessment Total by the highest of the 3 Tax Ratios. If the Assessment Total is 200,000 and the highest Tax Ratio is .3364, the result is 200000/.3364 = 594,530
- 5). The result from Step 4 is your magic number. If you think your home's value is less than the result from Step 4, you may be able to appeal your home's assessed value and lower your property taxes. In this example, the result from Step 4 is 594,530. If the home in question is worth less than $594,530, then the home's assessed value can be appealed.
- 6). Your county's Tax Board is where you file the appeal of your home's assessed value. You can hire a real estate attorney to file the appeal for you, or you can file on your own if you own the property yourself and not as part of a business with other co-owners. The deadline to file is April 1.
- 7). Recent comparable sales are the best evidence to bring to the Tax Board. These are recent sales of properties similar to your own, preferably from around October 1 of the previous year. An appraiser can provide recent comparable sales. Your real estate attorney will hire an appraiser.
- 8). There is a filing fee to go to the Tax Board, and your lawyer will charge a percentage of the 1st year's tax savings.
- 9). This won't work for everyone, but it's worth crunching the numbers to see if you have a chance. For more details, see http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/lpt/ptappeal.pdf Good luck!
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