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Newark council presses for updated appraisals as city lot sales and abatements move forward
Summary
Council members questioned low assessed values and deferred several redevelopment items while administration said a citywide revaluation will be complete by 2027. Members asked for case-by-case appraisals and clearer deed restrictions on affordable units.
Council members at Newark’s Nov. 25 pre-meeting pressed administration officials for updated appraisals and clearer enforcement of affordability conditions as a package of redevelopment and property-sale items moved through the agenda.
“Nobody is going to sell someone, let’s say, a lot for 3,000 square feet for $12,000,” Councilman Gonzales said, referring to a city lot with a 3,000‑square‑foot footprint that appears on the docket at a low assessed value. Gonzales and other council members said repeated listings of small city lots at what they called unrealistically low prices risk transferring public land to buyers who later seek tax abatements or resale at higher prices.
Acting director of finance Benjamin Guzman and the administration described a citywide property revaluation that is already under way. “We’re in the process in the middle of a revaluation,” a city official said, and the expectation is that the revaluation will be completed by 2027. The administration said it is possible to request individual appraisals if the council makes a formal request, but noted that such appraisals carry a cost.
Council members wanted additional safeguards on proposed sales. They asked that:
- specific requests for appraisals be considered when a councilor can justify a mismatch between assessed and market values; and - deed restrictions or compliance mechanisms be used where projects promise deed‑restricted affordable units, with EHD’s compliance unit or a third‑party monitor responsible for enforcement.
Business administrator Eric Pennington told the council the administration would take requests under advisement and that EHD has a compliance unit to enforce deed restrictions, when they are placed on sales. Several sales and redevelopment items were deferred to allow staff to provide corrected addresses, project descriptions and clarifications about affordability conditions.
Next steps: Council members asked the clerk and administration to provide historical appraisal and assessment information and to return with clearer documentation before the council takes final votes on the deferred items.
