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Dumont council explains estimated August tax bills and 20% reassessment process
Summary
Councilman Kelly explained how estimated August tax bills work, why they do not represent a quarterly multiplier, and how a 20% phased reassessment over four to five years affects individual homeowners differently; he said school and county budget components account for roughly $410 and $80 of the estimated average increase, respectively.
Councilman Kelly used the borough meeting to explain what residents are seeing on estimated August tax bills and to describe the phased property reassessment process.
Kelly told the council the August bills are estimated to capture increases or decreases from the current year’s budgets and cautioned residents not to multiply the August estimated bill by four to calculate an annual obligation. "So you don't look at what the August bill says and say I'm going to pay 4 times that," he said, explaining that the final reconciliation typically occurs on the November bill.
He said the town is beginning the first year of a 20% reassessment cycle that will roll through properties over roughly four to five years and that assessed value adjustments are intended to keep values close to market rates. Kelly emphasized that a home’s tax change depends on budget amounts (municipal, school, county), not simply assessed value shifts.
Using estimates provided at the budget hearing, Kelly said the school budget would add roughly $410 to the average assessed home's tax burden, the county contribution about $80, and that the combined estimated increase on the average home would be about $667; he cautioned that county numbers were not yet certified and that the August estimate could be reduced when the November bill is produced.
Kelly pointed residents to municipal and school budget documents online for more detail and said the borough will post county numbers when they are finalized.
