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County tax board sets 100% assessment ratio, tax‑map rules and reviews North Wildwood reassessment plan
Summary
The Cape May County Board of Taxation adopted resolutions establishing 100% assessed‑to‑true‑value ratio, directing municipal tax map maintenance and budget provisions, and discussed a North Wildwood reassessment plan that the town plans to submit to the Division of Taxation for approval.
The Cape May County Board of Taxation on May 6 adopted a set of resolutions setting valuation standards and tax‑map requirements for municipalities and reviewed a reassessment plan from the City of North Wildwood.
Why it matters: The county board sets the ratio of assessed value to true value that municipal assessors should use as a baseline for levy calculations and establishes tax‑map maintenance standards that affect assessment accuracy across the county.
By Resolution #3 the board established the percentage of assessed value to true value at one hundred percent (100%) for the purpose of assessing taxable values to be used in levying taxes for calendar year 2025 and thereafter until changed in accordance with chapter law. The resolution directs that copies be filed with the Director of the Division of Taxation, all municipal tax assessors and municipal clerks in Cape May County.
Resolution #4 addresses tax‑map maintenance. The board cited Chapter 175, Laws of 1913 and Chapter 167, Laws of 1939 and directed each municipal tax assessor to include in the annual office budget sufficient funds for tax map maintenance and compliance with Chapter 122, Laws of 1915, which requires filing a duplicate map by January 1 each year with the County Clerk. The board said it will condition acceptance of a district's Certified Tax List on a certificate of completion of the map by a New Jersey Licensed Land Surveyor.
Resolution #6 establishes standards for deciding whether a district needs a revaluation or reassessment. The board identified the General Coefficient of Dispersion (one‑year comparison of usable sales to assessments) as the primary standard and said a general coefficient above 15 will be deemed unacceptable. It gave equal weight to the Equalization Ratio and the Stratified/Segmented Coefficients and said a district ratio below 85% or above 110% in conjunction with a stratified/segmented coefficient above 15 will be deemed unacceptable. The resolution also lists secondary and tertiary factors such as master plan or zoning changes, utility or other development, catastrophe, staffing and funding of local assessor offices, number of properties inspected, and use of assessment compliance plans.
The board discussed and acknowledged receipt of a North Wildwood reassessment plan forwarded by Jason Hesley, North Wildwood Tax Assessor. Minutes state that Lori L. Rosell, County Tax Administrator, will sign and forward necessary documents to the Division of Taxation for approval. The minutes record that North Wildwood plans to complete the project by Oct. 1, 2026, with filing for tax year 2027, and that approval of an emergency appropriation ordinance is planned at the municipal level that evening.
Actions recorded in the minutes show the board approved the resolutions by motion, second and carried; the minutes do not record roll‑call tallies. The board's standards will function as the county's policy for deciding when district‑wide revaluations or reassessments are required and the technical and budgeting steps needed to support them.
What was not decided: Resolution language sets thresholds and criteria but does not itself order any specific municipality into revaluation; it only establishes county standards and filing requirements. The board will forward the North Wildwood plan to the Division of Taxation for the Division's approval; the minutes do not record Division action or a date for final approval.
