Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Property Tax topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident challenges Middletown tax‑notice math; officials defend figures and offer CFO follow‑up
Summary
A resident at the Aug. 11 Middletown meeting criticized a mailed property‑tax notice for relying on an average assessed value, saying it overstates typical homeowner impacts; township officials said the notice matched school‑board figures and offered to connect the resident with the CFO.
During the public‑comment portion of the Aug. 11 Middletown Township Committee meeting, resident Evan Rafferty challenged a recently mailed township notice that summarized assessed values and projected tax impacts.
Rafferty argued the notice used an average assessed residential value to calculate a $668 increase tied to the school levy and said that reporting an average in a community with widely varying home values (including very high‑value outliers) biases the result upward for typical homeowners. "When it comes to home values, nobody would use average. It's irresponsible to do it," he said.
Township officials responded that the figures in the notice mirror numbers shown by the school board in its presentation and that the township's chief financial officer and tax assessor reviewed and approved the content. Officials offered to connect Rafferty with the CFO for a technical follow‑up.
Other residents used the meeting to voice broader concern about rising property taxes and to press the committee about budget priorities, with one resident asking for specific line items where cuts could be made. Committee members said the municipal budget is published for public review and noted rising costs — such as health‑insurance premiums and pension obligations — that drive municipal expense growth.
The administration said it would not reissue the notice immediately but offered follow‑up meetings and direct contact with financial staff. The committee did not make a formal change to its communications during the meeting; staff said they would provide contact information for the CFO and continue to answer residents' questions.
