Successful Tax Appeals Cut Township's Ratable Base by Millions

Gloucester Township's ratable base was cut by $2.1 million as a result of successful 2011 tax appeals.

That may sound like a lot of money, but consider the township's ratable base, or the amount generated by taxable properties, is more than $4.5 billion.

Also consider , bringing the Cape May County Shore resort's total property value to $12.74 billion.

A total of 121 appeals were filed with the Camden County Board of Taxation by Gloucester Township property owners by the April 1 deadline.

Of the 121 appeals filed this year, 54 were granted reductions last month in the total amount of $2.1 million, according to Gloucester Township tax assessor Chuck Palumbo.

Fourteen of the 121 tax appeals filed in 2011 were withdrawn and about 10 appeals still must be heard by the state tax court after appellants challenged the county tax board's decisions, according to Palumbo.

The remaining 40 or so were denied.

There were 89 fewer tax appeals filed in 2011 than in May 2010 (210), Palumbo said, noting a townwide property revaluation was conducted in 2009. About 100 property owners won appeals last year, bringing down the township's total property value by about $4 million.

"I feel our values, for the most part, are very fair and reflect a good market value at this time," Palumbo said.

That opinion is backed by the fact that only 121 appeals were filed from the 22,300 properties in the township.

The township conducts annual assessments on commercial properties so as to take into account changes in revenues and expenses—something especially important as the nation finds itself stuck in a recession.

Palumbo also pointed out that of the 54 property owners who were granted reductions this year, 36 received them due to inspection issues that arose during the 2009 revaluaton—no one was home for an assessment or assessors were denied access—or clerical error.

The tax assessment office and revaluation firm, Professional Property Appraisers Inc., conducted hundreds of reviews during the first quarter of 2010.