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1. Why did we go through this revaluation?

It was mandated by Morris County consistent with New Jersey state law. The last revaluation was effective 13 years ago in 2000. It is appropriate to have properties assessed at close to, if not at, current market value. Prior to the revaluation, the official assessed property values were less than 60% of the market value. Hence, it is clear that Madison was overdue for a revaluation.

2. Why are the tax bills marked estimated?

The largest portion of your tax bill is paid to the Board of Education, which has approved a 2% increase. Next in size is the Borough of Madison, which approved an increase of 1.48%. However the county government has yet to tell us how much their portion will increase. Since we need money to keep our schools and government running we had to estimate the county portion of your tax bill. In order to avoid having to come back for an additional increase our estimate for the county is conservative. If the final county portion is lower, then an adjustment will be made to your fourth quarter tax bill.

3. Am I correct in multiplying the amount due in August by 4 to calculate my annual tax?

No, that would be a mistake. Because the budgets for the school, county and municipality are not finalized until the middle of the second quarter, any tax increase for the year is reflected in the final two quarters. Read more about calculating annual taxes online.

4. Why wasn’t the assessed value of all houses increased by the same amount?

Many variables affecting the current value of your home have changed since the last revaluation 13 years ago. The overall condition of your home, whether you made significant improvements to your home, recent sales in your neighborhood, the overall real estate market for homes in your price range etc. all influence not only the actual value of your home, but also its value relative to other homes in the borough.

5. I thought the revaluation would not affect the taxes on my home but it has. Why is that?

The revaluation did not affect the total amount of property taxes collected, but it did affect the amount of taxes collected on each home. Although the assessed value of homes went up an average of 63% every home did not go up that amount. Therefore it only makes sense that homes with higher than average increases in assessed value would see an increase in taxes whereas a home that appreciated by less than the average would likely see a decrease in taxes.

6. What can I do if I believe that the revaluation of my home is too high?

Find out more about why you suspect that your home revaluation is high online.