ALLENTOWN – Members of the Borough Council have voted unanimously to continue to opt out of the Monmouth County Assessment Demonstration Program (ADP).
Council members made the decision during a meeting on March 26. They had been given a deadline of April 1 to notify the county if they wanted to rejoin the program.
According to the Monmouth County website, “While there are several components of the ADP, the overarching goal is to annually provide more accurate and uniform property assessments for fairer distribution of the annual property tax levy.”
In the county, 45 of 53 municipalities participate in the ADP. Allentown pulled out of the program several years ago and is one of the eight municipalities that do not participate in the ADP, according to members of the council.
In an interview, Councilman Rob Schmitt said that “scientifically, the ADP is more accurate, but that accuracy results in tax volatility” for our residents. “The ADP impacts Allentown negatively because of its volatility, because each home is reassessed every year.
“Currently, we are not participating in the ADP. That means a resident can make an improvement to his home and have time to recover financially from his investment” because the value of the improvement will not be added to the assessed value of the home immediately, Schmitt said.
“We (council members) sat with our attorney and our tax assessor and reviewed a lot of information. I think we made a good decision by holding off on rejoining the ADP,” Schmitt said, adding he believes the council members made the best decision for Allentown residents at this time.
During a previous meeting, Mayor Greg Westfall said Allentown officials “pulled out of the program because it affected some people’s taxes.” He said the borough had been asked by the Monmouth County tax board to rejoin the ADP.
Municipal officials said if they continue to decline to rejoin the ADP, they may have to conduct a complete reassessment of all properties in Allentown at a cost of approximately $70,000.
If the borough rejoins the program, 20 percent of the borough’s property’s would be reassessed on an annual basis at a cost of about $4,000, according to municipal officials.
Schmitt said properties in the borough are currently assessed at or near their true market value and said a complete reassessment may not be necessary for several years.
In other action on March 26, council members accepted the resignation of John Fabiano from the Planning Board and appointed Allison Arnone, who had been serving as an alternate, as a regular member of the board through Dec. 31, 2021. A vacancy now exists in the Alternate No. 1 membership position.
And, council members appointed Uwe Dutton to the Traffic Committee. Dutton recently addressed the council on issues relating to traffic safety in the borough and expressed interest in an ongoing effort to make Allentown’s streets safer for residents.
Finally, Schmitt announced that the borough’s Economic Development Commission is planning a fundraising event from 7-10 p.m. May 4 at Screaming Hill Brewery, Upper Freehold Township. The tentative name of the fundraiser is “A Taste of Allentown” and Schmitt said the borough’s restaurants would be asked to participate.
