Estimated Tax Bills Mailed to Residents

The following comes from the Township of Jefferson:

Jefferson Township has mailed estimated tax bills, due Aug. 1, for the third quarter billing period. The estimated rate was calculated on the adopted budgets from the School Board and Township Council. Morris County tax apportionment was estimated with a 4.9% increase over last year’s levy and State Aid figures remained the same. The total increase in spending, raised by taxation, increased by an estimated 0.813% over 2011 which is in keeping with the 2% Tax Cap Law signed by Governor Christie in 2010.

The averaged assessed home in Jefferson dropped by approximately 5% in value from $319,690 in 2011 to $303,200 in 2012. An assessment compliance plan was implemented at the start of this year to more accurately reflect the change in assessments to market value. A total of 43% of all properties saw a change in assessment because of this effort. Each year, the Assessor’s office monitors trends in market value against the current tax assessments. Any sectors that have convincing evidence of over assessment will be considered for adjustment. All studies and mitigation plans must be submitted to the Morris County Board of Taxation for approval and fully implemented prior to the start of the new year. This has been a continuing process since the revaluation of 2006 with changes approved in 2010 for the reassessment and the most recent compliance plan. Further changes may be requested of the County Board of Taxation in December if market evidence warrants changes.

All tax information including three years' history of assessments, recent comparable sales, property record cards and our new digital tax maps are available at www.jeffersontownship.net and clicking on the tax records search icon.