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That sounds like there's nothing really secret about it other than people would have to be paying attention to their representatives & the media, rather than their tax bill alone, to know that the new rate was reval PLUS tax rise. Considering that they've raised taxes pretty consistently, why WOULDN'T you expect them to raise the overall rate yet again in a reval year?

The whole thing is such a mess. If the assessments were at least tied to CPI or Case-Schiller so they inflated along with everything else, the rate itself would not have to be raised so much every time. The reval would be less drama, and people would see most years that their tax rise is a result of their property rising in dollar value. But that still wouldn't solve the problem of our highest in the nation tax dollars vanishing into a black hole of sweetheart deals, nepotism, and bloat.

Interesting data: Hudson County is in the top 10 in % of income paid as property tax. http://taxfoundation.org/article/new- ... louisiana-parishes-lowest

But as a percentage of value, we're pretty typical for the northeast according to this fascinating interactive graphic http://www-958.ibm.com/software/data/ ... 6d00111dfbca8000255111976

Fulop explained this is a meeting once. I will do my best here to remember what he said.

The loophole works this way: If revenues are not meeting the budget during the reval, the city is allowed to raise the tax rate during the reval in order to close the budget gap.

So I guess the city could propose a lot more spending, knowing that revenues won't cover it. Then raise taxes, with the bulk of the increase falling on the downtown areas, as I suspect they are going to get the worse of it during the reval process.

If I butchered what he states.. my apologies. Maybe he will pop on here and clear it up.

I'm as paranoid as the next JC resident about shady doings at city hall, but will someone please explain to me how this "tax raise hidden in the reval" scam is supposed to work? By law the reval is mandated to raise exactly the same total amount of property tax after as before. How do they hide a major increase in amount of taxes taken in? The numbers aren't secret. Suddenly an extra, say $50m, can just appear after the reval and no one questions where it came from? Does someone have documentation of this happening in the last reval? All the articles I've read of 88 mention inaccuracy & bias of the appraisals, but nothing of an overall tax hike.

Jersey City council approves muni budget that keeps taxes virtually flat

July 31, 2012, 10:50 PM
By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal

The Jersey City City Council voted 7-2 tonight to adopt a $485.6 million 2012 municipal budget that will hike municipal taxes a fraction of a percent.

For a property valued at $100,000, municipal taxes will increase for the year from $3,451 to $3,478 or $27, said Robert J. Kakoleski, an assistant business administrator.

"We are not collecting more in taxes but unfortunately our taxpayers are paying a little more," Kakoleski said, attributing the drop in ratables to successful tax appeals.

In a statement after the vote, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy credited "the streamlining of government and fiscal restraints" of his administration for keeping a lid on taxes.

"However, because of the high number of recent tax appeals the tax rate had to be adjusted upward prior to adoption by the City Council," Healy said.

Council members Steven Fulop and Rolando Lavarro voted against the budget and accused Healy of playing politics with the budget.

Lavarro and Fulop accused the Healy administration of holding of tax increases until after the 2013 election predicting that tax payers will be slapped with a "hidden" tax as a result of revaluations.

"The revaluation is bad news for Jersey City," Lavarro said. "The whole process was to provide a cover for deferring increases to 2013."

In a statement Fulop said: "This is exactly what Team Healy did right around the last election before he crushed homeowners with a huge tax increase post election, only this time it is far worst as it is the delayed tax revaluation."

With the school and county taxes included, a property owner with a property valued at $100,000 will see a $176 tax increase in their overall tax bills that should start appearing in mailboxes by the end of next week, officials said.

Kakoleski said that state aid remained unchanged from 2011 to 2012 at $63 million The city expects an increase of new revenues of $2.3 million from red-light cameras and $1.9 million from the sale of the old Jersey City Police Department headquarters at 8 Erie St.

While civilians salaries and benefits fell by $1 million, police and firefighters salaries increased by roughly $5 million, Kakoleski said.

Council members approved budgeted amendments that included an additional $2.3 million for the Jersey City Improvement Authority, the first of three installments to repay the $6.9 million debt the authority owes to the Hudson County Improvement Authority. The budget also included a small increase in the JCIA budget, from $27.9 million to $29 million, officials said.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... council_approves_m_1.html