Councilman
Thomas Reilly
SOUTH AMBOY – 3/15/17 Council Meeting – Councilmen Thomas Reilly was concerned about the Manhattan Beach Project. “Due Diligence should have been done to set a fair market value on the property.”
Councilman Brian McLaughlin added, “I agree with Reilly on that the tax assessor could have done a better job on assessing fair market value on the Manhattan Beach Project.
City Attorney John Lanza responded, “The City of South Amboy doesn’t do assessments. Assessments are done by independent tax assessors and it’s based on his knowledge and comparables. The City or tax payee can appeal the decision. The Mayor/Council does not do assessments of property. Appeals have to be filed by April 1st.”
Lanza continued, “We did have appraisals in connection with tax appeals. The appraisal that was suggested from our guy, which was done about 3 or 4 years ago was $4 million less than what it is now.”
During the public portion, City Resident Tom Kross came up to speak and asked, “Did the City loose $800,000 on the Manhattan Beach Project?”
John Lanza
City Attorney John Lanza tried to explain, “The Tax Assessor first thought that the land value was very high, but there was a boundary line adjustment. The owner did not do a tax appeal in a timely manner and had threatened litigation. The tax assessment went up tenfold.”
Kross was confused and asked, “Did the property owner appealed the decision by the tax assessor?
Mayor Henry replied, “The owner did not appeal in time.”
Kross then questioned, “How does John Q. Public assess property?”
Business Administrator Camille Tooker answered that question stating, “We don’t do one time assessments for our budget.”
Lanza finished the conversation by stating, “We (the City) put in the correct assessment determined by the assessor and we were allowed to keep the $800,000.”
