The Lakewood Planning board will hear the application for Eagle Ridge Tomorrow evening but due to conflicts of interests ,Of nine planning board members, only four are eligible to hear The "Parke's" application, according to the board Lawyer . APP reports the Lawyer has spent weeks vetting possible conflicts. He declined to say who would vote and who would not, or what their conflicts are. A a zoning board member is on deck to serve as a substitute official to make sure there will be a quorum to hold the vote. read more here
I'm a bit confused, so how we're they able to vote on the master plan that affected this area and all of Lakewood? Does that mean they voted with a conflict?
ReplyDeleteThat's the $50 million dollar question. Aside for that, how many of the other board members had conflict of interest on different developments/ zoning issues? When so many of them are tied to various developments in Lakewood, there is a real concern of quid pro quo, you vote for mine, I'll vote for yours.
DeleteAll towns in NJ require a FIS (Fiscal Impact study) for developments of size.Lakewood does not want these studies cause it will clearly show how these large developments are a Drain for taxpayers with ever increasing TAXES. The proof is in our tax bill,has anyones taxes gone down in Lakewood ??????Can Cross Street handle 2000 more cars during rush hours. Traffic studies are a JOKE,they can be modified as per clients wishes and the bobble head planning board will agree to any nonsense thrown their way. This is only Phase 1 of their plan for the golf course,many more units planned after they ram this plan down are throats
ReplyDelete",has anyones taxes gone down in Lakewood ?????" Well the answer to that is not as simple as you may think. Over the last decade, no ones tax bill went down. The over-development is a net loss to taxpayers. However, short term, in the last 2 years, things get interesting.
DeleteThe township reassessment effectively massively increased taxes on owners of older homes by as much as 30%, while lowering taxes on homes that were built since the last re-assessment. People who bought newer homes, have the housed assessed at the purchase value, so when the overall rate went down, their taxes went down. People who owned older homes, saw the assessed value increase massively, so even though the effective tax rate was lowered, they still faced a massive increase.
You may think fair is fair, the assessed value is the assessed value, and there was nothing nefarious about that. Well you would be mistaken. Aside for the fact that people who buy new homes, where aware of the tax bill when they purchased the homes and should have budgeted for it, whereas longtime homeowners had to suddenly come up with thousands more to cover the increased taxes, it goes a lot deeper than that.
Most newer homes have basement rentals, some have 2 basement rentals. The township assessor does not include the finished basement square footage into the total livable space of the home (different towns have different methods, Lakewood does not assess basement as livable space even for rentals). All it does is consider the cost of finishing the basement, ($40K) and add it to the assessed value.
In many areas, there is very limited data on older sold homes, so what the township does is take the average price per square foot of all recent sales and applies it to the older homes. This assumes that the square footage of a house with a finished basement rental (with the square footage of the basement not included)has the same value as the square footage of a house built on a slab that does not have the ability to finish and rent a basement. This is just not true and unfairly places a massive tax burden on people with homes who do not have a rental in the basement, making it unaffordable to anyone to live in a single family home unless they are wealthy.
If you look at an area with limited new development and basement rentals (14th street for example), the taxes on many older homes actually went down during the last assessment. This is further proof to the obvious, that it is unfair and inaccurate to assess homes with a finished basement rental (based on square footage minus the rental), the same as an older home that is based on all of its actual living space square footage.
So why did the Township do this? Could it be an over-site and an innocent mistake? I have a hard time believing that, the numbers aren't that hard to figure out. What is more likely is that using this ridiculous unfair method of assessment benefits developers as it lowers the taxes on new development homes with basement rentals in relation to older true single family homes.
The local politicians and board members clearly put the interests of developers ahead of those of longtime homeowners. Would be interesting to see the results of a FOIA request of all the township tax assessors communications, as well as those of the company they hired for the last assessment.
You're absolutely wrong about the basement issue. Basements are simply a way to make some side income. If I had an Amazon business in my house should it be taxed more.
DeleteFurthermore, the new houses with the basement would never be sold as much if it didn't have the basement rental. They would be built smaller and cheaper. So any house with a basement rental is more expensive and therefore contributing their fair share to the tax burden.
What you are experiencing in your older house is your neighborhood becoming more expensive probably because it is a sought after by well to do, who buy land at high prices and build nice houses on it. Probably because of it's central location or serene setting, or some other reason for it's value to increase. This has every reason for it's taxes to increase.
If this is a problem for you, you should sell your house, which you probably paid a quarter of what today's new houses are going for, and move to a cheaper area. (This is not my idea, many have already done so) And you might even have a rental basement for some extra income
Anonymous 2:52 nice of you to decide that I should sell my house, I am sure the township committeemen agree with you. you have not refuted any of my points. In fact, you have reinforced them. Houses with basement rentals are sold for more money, raising the price per square footage that the township assessor uses to determine the cost of housing, and thereby unfairly raising the taxes on homes that do not have basements. It's not that complicated of a concept. The fact that many have had to do so, does not validate your point, it reinforces the fact that the politicians have been irresponsible in their management of the town.
DeleteThe fact is that basement rentals increase the services required by the home.The fact is that the manner in which properties are assessed create an undue burden on those who do not have basement rentals. The fact is that the lower the taxes are on new homes with rentals, the more the builders can sell those homes for. The fact is that the only difference in taxes between a 3500 sq ft home with a basement, and one without, is the $40k cost of finishing a basements, despite the fact that the one with a basement rental requires more services than one without.
Not everyone wants to be a landlord in their won home, although the actions of the township committee and the builders are removing that choice from property owners on their own land.
Your analogy of an amazon business in the basement is not comparable, as it doesn't create the same use of service as a residential property does. Last I checked, Amazon businesses do not have children with special needs, or children who require busing to school. As far as whether an Amazon business is permitted use, maybe it isn't check with zoning., i wouldn't know. I currently pay taxes on my home, and on the warehouse I lease for my business.
so this is why if I would finish and rent my basement the taxes wouldnt be so much different but if I would finish my attic which is much smaller, my taxes would be much higher?
DeleteA few clarifying points for a confused "JoeBagel"-
DeleteA lot of older houses were raised in the last reassessment for the exact reasons Anonymous 2:52 said. Older homes are being purchased for high prices, which sets the market for those types of houses (depending on the area).
No towns in NJ count the basement area as "livable space". Basements are considered "below grade" (ask an appraiser if they include basement square feet as livable area). The assessment includes the cost of the basement, the cost of finishing it, then additional amount(s) if there is an apartment(s) in there.
The township does not "take the average price per square foot of all recent sales and applies it to the older homes". Each house is assessed on individually. They do not take the purchase price for a new home with a basement and apply it to an older house on a slab.
It might benefit you (and those who think you are telling the truth) to actually go to the town and ask instead of sprouting inaccurate information.
Anonymous 1:27 Toms River counts many basements as livable square footage in their assessments, in case you were wondering, Toms River is in Ocean County. Is their any township in NJ with legal basement rentals, that does NOT count it as living space? You refer to "an additional amount" if the basement is rented, what is that mysterious "additional amount" and show me 1 appraisal by the township assessor where that factors into the appraisal. I am not talking about appraisals that private assessors make, I am talking about the ones the Township counts out for tax purposes.
DeleteAs far as your claim that older houses increased their pricing due to higher sales, in some areas that maybe true, but in others it is impossible to assess it by that method as there just aren't enough comps in the area to make that assessment. As a private appraisal, you can you have a much boriader ability to use comps, and they aren't always accurate, as you can use comps from a mile away, even though the market value a mile apart in Lakewood, can be significantly different.
The Township assessment did separate neighborhoods and give different assessments for areas that accurately have different values. Yet, the comps in certain neighborhoods just were not existent, and the assessment was made based on square footage (see earlier post).
Assessments are available online via the Ocean County website. there are no mysteries here and the information is available to all
Mr. Bagel, your point about the new homes with the basement rental may be true. Basically you are saying that since you have only 2 floors of sq feet assessed with the higher price, it causes the sq footage of the area to increase in value.
DeleteHowever the likelihood of this affecting you is very slim. This is because of assessments being based on comps. A duplex off James, no matter how inflated it's assessment may be, won't affect a house in 14th st area. This is because there are many comps a lot closer to go with for the assessment. Just as a house near Yeshiva or on Tori Ct won't affect the rest of Lakewood.
Now, if you live in an area with many new homes with basements and you are in an older house, it would affect your assessment. But I don't think that this is applicable to many homeowners in town.
It would probably be fairer for the township to include basements in their sq footage, but I don't think that it's that much of an issue.
Many towns impose impact fees to offset costs for off site improvements that a Huge project like this would bring with its 1200 plus cars,countless busses picking up 1000's of beautiful children, huge stormwater issues that may come from a site this Large. But Lakewood gives the builders a Free Pass on impact fees,they simply make us, the taxpayer, pay for expensive st.lites, road widenings drainage repairs and utility extensions.Why just look at Sunset Rd.and the new massive sewer line going in for the last few months. It's the new sewer line for the golf course and others along the way. Guess who's paying for it, Why it's you and me (it will show up on your sewer and water bill soon as a price increase. Guess how much the developer pays for this new sewer line ,0 ,nothing,nada. Thank you oh wise and Greedy leaders who have sold us out for nickels and dimes. Every single board member (planning ,zoning and council along with the Vaad are compromised and Hypnotized by a piece of paper with 1's and ZEROS. Only one stands out as not compromised,Mr. Ackerman
ReplyDeleteThey should have to put a school not just school bus stops
ReplyDeleteas a matter of fact. Jackson High School was paid for by a developer that built approximately 500 mcmansions a few years back. that is how towns deal with development. Towns also rezone or even buy properties to avoid overdevelopment. In Lakewood? we call the people that complain or speak up loi farginers. or worse. we spread rumors about them that they are moisrim. we hide behind supposed daas Torah and lie cheat and steal...... this has to stop and it will stop soon. and it wont be pretty from what I have been hearing. of course I am not involved. but the chatter in town is deafening at this point. I cant imagine this house of cards can stand much longer.
ReplyDelete