Charlie Sherwood is moving out of the Grove over property taxes., Click on image to enlarge. Paul Goldfinger photo © Dec 12, 2017. Re-post 12/17
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@ Blogfinger
December 12, 2017: I met Charlie Sherwood this morning as he and some helpers were loading all his possessions into a U-Haul truck. The 82 year old retired computer salesman moved to Ocean Grove in 1946 when his mother owned a B&B. For the last 20 years he has lived in a “half-a-house” on Heck Avenue, way back near the Arts Center.
When he first bought his half-a house, his taxes were $300.00. Last year they were about $5,500, but for 2018, he will have to pay $7,000.
Charlie, who has been chronically unhappy with Neptune property taxes, finally was pushed over the edge. He ordered a U-Haul and is arranging to list his house.
He will move to Leisure Village in Ocean County with his dog Porky. Charlie is not alone in the world. Two daughters live in Rumson. He blames the high taxes here on a spend-crazy school system which has declining graduation rates and test scores. He says, “It’s not the fault of the families over there; the schools have failed them.”
Will Charlie miss Ocean Grove? He smiles and says, “No. I’ll have a golf course in my backyard.” He seemed eager to get that tax burden off his shoulders, and he mentioned that a neighbor, just two houses away, had just listed his house because of the taxes.
Are we seeing a new “fed-up” syndrome in the Grove?
See the 2017 comments and add more now.
PATSY CLINE: “Leavin’ on Your Mind.” OMG one of the saddest songs ever….
Shelly – Your comment inspired me to do some research for a solution. I found that NJ has a program to protect senior citizens from growing property taxes through reimbursements. There are some income limits and eligibility requirements (at least 65 years old, resident of NJ for more than 10 years, owned home for more than 3 years). It seems that many in OG could fit the criteria. Details and applications can be found here….
http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/ptr/index.shtml
I hope this information can be useful to you or our community.
If someone reading this has other tips or more information, please share.
You are right. Calculating on Broadway.
Residents that have been part of the OG community for decades are being taxed out. They are the ones that helped OG through the less desirable 80s and 90s. For their effort, they get penalized with unaffordable taxes. Only one original resident lives on my block. Taxes have forced out the rest.
My husband and I continue to work, though we are past retirement age, to feed the machine called Neptune. Truthfully with another $100,000 increase on my valuation (we have made no improvements,) I don’t know how much longer we can hang on. We have appealed twice and lost both times.
Sad, and disgusting. So many have to leave.
Thanks Doc. I just find Charlie’s situation so unfair. Residents that have been part of the OG community for decades are being taxed out. They are the ones that helped OG through the less desirable 80s and 90s. For their effort, they get penalized with unaffordable taxes. That’s not right.
Calculating: Thank your for your two helpful comments: I recognized that Charlie had a very steep increase, but that is what he told me, and he didn’t mention any significant work done on his house—and I didn’t ask. I do know that the house two doors down had a 33% increase in taxes, but he did have renovation work done, so certainly that is an explanation for a steep rise; And, if you don’t let the appraiser come inside, then he will assume certain things; so always make sure that you let the appraiser in.
And your idea about home prices in OG outstripping the increases in Neptune is brilliant. It’s just another reason why the OG community needs to organize and try to find a way to secede, or that sucking sound coming from the west will continue to make us crazy.—-Paul
Taxation, in my opinion, is the largest issue facing Grovers and yet there is little discussion and knowledge on the topic.
High taxes and high relative taxes can alter/deconstruct neighborhoods, impact housing transactions and put a drag property values.
Ocean Grove has a couple of structural “negatives” that weigh on property values including land lease, and ground rent that are unique. No doubt there are some buyers who just cannot live with that.
Now you can add disproportionately high taxes to the mix and you naturally exclude a larger group of people.
I encourage all readers to learn about the tax codes. Neptune township has moved to a controversial system that is intended to assess properties to market value within a narrow range. Given the Grove is a highly unique community, with an extremely diverse housing stock, I believe it has provided some challenges for a system that is potentially well intended.
Either way, Grovers should think long and hard about the absolute tax and decide if they are receiving proper value for their tax dollars.
Editor’s note: Brian. Your comment is terrific because it takes us into the weeds on taxes, a place where the Neptuners wish we wouldn’t explore.
However, please, when you comment again on BF, try to simplify the language and the concepts. My mother used to complain about our doctor because he used medical terms that she didn’t understand. I tried to keep that in mind when I was a practicing physician. So, remember my mom when you plan to say things like “relative taxes” or “assess properties to market value within a narrow range.”
As editor, sometimes I have to help my commenters communicate better on this site ——-Thanks, Paul.
Found 2017 budget summary here ….
http://www.neptunetownship.org/sites/default/files/documents/2017Clerk/2017%20user%20friendly%20state%20budget.pdf
Looks ordinary. Assuming 2018 looks similar, the growing taxes is not being driven by a growing budget. Perhaps the growth of OG property assessments are outpacing the rest of Neptune. Therefore, the portion of Neptune tax revenues being covered by OG properties are increasing every year.
Are home assessments performed annually in Neptune? This, coupled with a hot housing market, could trigger taxes to go up every year.
Did Charlie make significant improvements on his home? If not, that tax hike is way out of line. +27.3%?! Are Neptune’s tax revenue, budget, and expenses publically available?
Taxes are going up in Neptune and Neptune City also. Some sound like pretty big jumps. Sounds like everyone is getting hit this time around
It’s sad, very sad, but this is what happens when Neptune Township views OG as a Cash Cow and not a Historic District.
And here we go with yet another round of long time Ocean Grovers leaving because of tax hikes. We wonder why streets are darker? O.G. has become more and more a “summer” community. We wonder why attendance at most public forums is low? Home owners don’t live here anymore. And CMA wants to bring the community back to the good-old-days? I wish them luck! Perhaps they should have fought Neptune on construction and taxes to help retain those who moved here because it was a special place and not because it was cute or close to Asbury.