Bloomfield Property Reval On Track, Thousands Of Homes Inspected

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield’s property revaluation is on track to finish this autumn, according to town officials.

About 20% of roughly 13,000 properties in town have been inspected as of Wednesday, which puts the township on schedule for completing field inspections by October, Bloomfield Tax Assessor Joe Pisauro said.

The purpose of the revaluation is to ensure that all property in Bloomfield is assessed “fairly and equitably according to its fair market value,” municipal officials stated. Learn more about property revaluations in New Jersey here.

According to Bloomfield officials:

“Property values change at different rates for various locations and property types. A revaluation ensures fairness and equity in the collection of revenue for municipal purposes. The purpose of a revaluation is to eliminate any assessment inequities that may have developed since the implementation of the previous revaluation. This balances the municipality's real property tax burden among its taxpayers. In addition to ensuring that the local tax burden is borne equally, being at 100% of value means that property owners will be paying a fairer, more equitable portion of county taxes since no adjustments in the equalization process will have to be made. Once the revaluation program is completed, the tax rate per $100 of assessed valuation will undoubtedly go down to reflect the increased value of the ratable base.”

However, this does not necessarily indicate whether the tax on your property will increase or decrease, Bloomfield officials said.

“Revaluations do not increase the total amount of revenue to be raised by taxation. The municipality only collects the amount of tax dollars that the four units of local government (local school, regional school, county government and municipal government) determine is necessary to operate.”

Glen Rock-based Appraisal Systems Inc. was contracted to conduct the property revaluation in Bloomfield after conducting previous town-wide revals in 1992 and 2010. The specific locations of inspectors are posted on ASINJ.com.

According to a municipal news release:

“The inspectors, as was reported to all property owners in letters mailed this spring, will ring the doorbell to inform that they are there and request an interior inspection. If the owner is not home when an inspector arrives, he or she will measure and inspect the outside of the structure, including fenced back yards, taking pictures which will only be used for inspection purposes. The inspector will then leave a yellow card with a date and time for a callback to complete the interior inspection.”

Any Bloomfield residents with questions about the revaluation process can contact the Tax Assessor’s Office at 973-680-4021 or visit Room 108 of Town Hall.

Bloomfield is one of several towns in the area that was recently ordered to conduct a property revaluation by the Essex County Board of Taxation, a process that’s usually done once every decade. Other Essex County towns that have conducted revaluations in the past few years include Livingston, Caldwell, Belleville, Millburn and Verona.

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