What FH's Coming Revaluation Means

It's something that Monmouth County mandates in order to keep the value of property in Fair Haven current and bring tax dollars in — property revaluation.

After more than a decade, county officials have ordered a new one in the borough where, Mayor Ben Lucarelli says "there's no doubt that the value of Fair Haven is up."

Assessors from Realty Appraisal Co. will soon be out and about photographing properties as a means to start the job of deciding just what that value may be.

Realty was chosen above Appraisal Systems and awarded a contract, via resolution on Monday night, of $149,900 to complete the revaluation job.

The results will be reflected in the 2014 tax bills, but the job will be completed in 2013.

Calling revaluation an expense that no town likes to incur, Lucarelli said that what a revaluation really boils down to is a finding that one third of properties' value goes up, one third down and the remaining third stay the same.

"In reality it's the county's way of getting its bigger piece of the pie in taxes from towns when properties naturally go up in value over the years," the mayor said. "No question that it's inevitable that the whole pie is just getting bigger."

Though, Lucarelli did question the worth of county taxes paid when things such as county road repairs in town have ended up being funded by federal dollars instead.

"We had to get a federal grant to have River Road repaired," he said.

What should residents expect? The borough has circulated a notice to residents saying that the first step is ground photos of all properties.

"These front-view-only photographs are part of the database that will be compiled during the year," the notice said. "The reason to kick off the process with photos is to get them done prior to spring 'leaf-over.' The next step will be a general borough mailing, to all the borough's property owners, with a full explanation of the process, its timelines, and contact information. That mailing should occur in April."

For more information and explanation of exactly what a revaluation is, check out the attached document.