By Mark Rosman
Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN – Legal action borough officials filed against the director of the state Division of Taxation has had a positive outcome for Allentown.
During the Jan. 17 meeting of the Borough Council, members of the governing body passed a resolution approving a settlement of the litigation with the state.
The matter concerns the portion of the tax levy Allentown property owners will be required to pay the Upper Freehold Regional School District during the 2017-18 school year.
Allentown and Upper Freehold Township comprise the UFRSD and share the costs of operating the Newell Elementary School, the Stone Bridge Middle School and Allentown High School. The tax levy represents the money that is collected from property owners in both towns to support the operation of the school district.
In October, borough officials were notified that Allentown’s share of the total school district tax levy would increase from 14.26 percent in 2016-17 to 14.31 percent in 2017-18.
As recently as the 2015-16 school year, Allentown’s property owners paid 13.04 percent of the school district’s tax levy. The increase in the apportionment rate from 2015-16 to 2016-17 cost a borough property owner about $530 more in school taxes.
Council members voted to authorize Borough Attorney Greg Cannon to appeal the Director’s Table of Equalized Valuation for 2017-18.
The settlement with the state indicates that Allentown’s share of the tax levy will decrease from 14.26 percent in 2016-17 to 14.12 percent in 2017-18.
In a press release, borough officials said the town-wide savings will be $49,400.
The council’s resolution states that “the director of the Division of Taxation and Allentown acknowledge and agree that the appeal involves arguable and disputed questions of fact and law” and that “the director … and Allentown have agreed to compromise and settle the appeal (to) reduce Allentown’s proportionate share of the tax levy … from 14.31 percent to 14.12 percent for the 2017-18 school year.”
Mayor Greg Westfall said the 2015 increase in Allentown’s share of the school budget from 13.09 percent to 14.25 percent placed a tremendous burden on residents. Westfall said he and the council members resolved to fight any further increase in 2016.
“I can tell you that after 2015, the council was not going to tolerate another tax increase based upon sample sizes and luck of the draw in Trenton without getting our residents their day in court to fight it,” council President Wil Borkowski said.
Allentown’s tax appeal complaint challenged the inclusion of three properties in calculating the table and sought to expand the sampling period from six months to one year for Monmouth County towns participating in the Assessment Demonstration Program (ADP).
Nearly a year ago, Allentown officials opted out of the ADP for 2017, but the borough remained subject to the smaller sampling period for ADP towns in the 2016 table, according to the press release.
“Because Allentown is no longer in the ADP, we agreed to drop the sampling size argument and the Division of Taxation was willing to exclude two of the three properties listed in our complaint to reduce Allentown’s share of school taxes below the prior 2015 level,” Cannon said. “I was very pleased to deliver a successful result in this litigation for the mayor and council and residents of Allentown.”
The Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education adopted a $41.07 million budget for the 2016-17 school year. The budget is supported by the collection of $25.19 million in taxes from residential and commercial property owners in Upper Freehold Township ($21.6 million) and Allentown ($3.59 million).
