Departments & Services

Tax Assessor

• The Mission of the Office of Assessment strives to maintain a fair and equitable tax base for the community based on sound assessment practices. Our plan is to treat all property types and owners impartially.



• The Assessor is responsible for identifying and placing a value on every parcel of land within the confines of the Township's borders. The values are derived through the formulation of models developed from closed comparable sales and uniformly applied to comparable housing styles for design, quality, and location. These values become the final assessed values for residential properties and should closely reflect 100% of market value.



• The final property assessed values are reviewed and updated on an annual basis. For tax year 2006 and thereafter, the annual program will continue. All assessments are based on market trends by neighborhood, styles, size as of October 1, of the pretax year. Ratable totals may increase or decrease depending on these trends and the property condition.



• All properties are scheduled for re-inspection on a four-year rotation, which enables the adjustment of our property data base for alterations and improvements that may not have had building permits. Any properties not physically inspected will be estimated based on typical attributes of comparable housing. Annual reassessing and the re-inspection process contribute to more equitable and uniform assessments throughout the Township.



• Commercial Properties are assessed based on income and expense information as well as sales data. Chapter 91's are mailed out annually to owners. The data compiled from the responses enables us to develop economic rents that are uniformly used on comparable rental properties. Compliance with this request by the Township commercial owners is extremely important to arrive at final assessed values representative of market value.

Current Programs

• Bernards Township has been actively engaged in an annual state approved reassessment program since 1989. The program has financial advantages, as well as creating a more equitable tax base. This program provides the capability to address fluctuating market trends upward or downward which has resulted in fewer appeals and reduced loss in ratables. Additionally, the apportioned county share of each municipality toward county taxes to be raised is more equitably distributed. Sales studies, analysis, investigation, and reviews are conducted annually with values being established reflecting the market as of October 1 of the pre-tax year. An important part of the program is the field inspection of every property, which provides for updating of property data allowing for an equitable assessment base for every property owner.

Important Dates

• February 1: Postcards go out with assessments for the current year
• May 1: Deadline for filing of tax appeals
• May 20: County board of taxation to certify general tax rates
• August 1: Deadline for filing of farm assessment applications
• October 1: Valuation date for all real property in a district

   

  Important Links

  Tax Appeals

  http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/ pdf/other_forms/lpt/petappl.pdf

Departmental Contacts

Thank you for visiting our website. Please contact us whenever an issue is important to you. The Township Committee and Administrator depend on your thoughts and comments, to ensure that at all times our service offerings are community driven.