So are the lakefront owners getting shafted just like Byram and West Milford?

when did these letters get mailed out?.....

Yes, when did these letters get mailed out?

No letter here...

I did not receive any letter either.....if the re-evaluation company will be at borough hall beginning tomorrow, it would be a great idea to get the letters out yesterday.

Wonder if the letter mentions the property tax amount. If it just lists the new value of the house it's pretty much worthless. That would be silly so that's probably what it will have.

I did not receive any letter either

No letter here. How can we meet to discuss the outcome if we don't know what the assesment is? They need to be available to discuss the valuations at a later date to accomodate their late mailings

Letter? Do those of us who never saw an assessor get a letter? Would have been nice to know when they were coming so someone could have been at home. Certainly don't understand why they're coming to discuss these valuations when it seems like many people have not gotten a letter. However for Hopatcong, I guess that does make sense.

I thought I was the only one that did not get a letter... Guess not! When will these 'sessions' be held? Everyday?

They will hold sessions between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

PATCH - can you please clear up the confusion here???

No letter here either. This town really knows how to screw things up. Time to move.

Not so much the rumor mill as common sense. Fact of life - taxes don't go down. The borough officials are having a difficult time managing the town finances with the current revenue stream. The assessment will merely more closely realign assessed home values with current market values - effective tax rates will rise, End result will be that most individual property taxes will remain on the same track.

Add us to the list of those with no letter.

Your taxes absolutely can go up because of the reassessment. I bought my house back in 2004 and when they did the assessment in 2007 or so may taxes went up 20.8%. It all depends on how much the value of your house compares to everyone else. If mine jumps 20% again the keys will be in the mailbox.

And I personally didn't see anyone going around doing assessments or leave any notice that they tried to do one. Curious if anyone saw them going around?

FYI... Looks like the letters were mailed out on Monday. So I would expect that some of us would see it today, tomorrow. Article with more detail. http://www.njherald.com/story/21141676/hopatcong-assessments-lowered

no letters but sessions start today? are we paying the company for someone to sit around as there are no letters for the tax payers?
"Shine On"

I spoke to borough hall today. Letters went out Monday. There was some type of delay, and appointments will not start until next week. YES - APPOINTMENTS. What the patch is actually reporting is the hours that appointments will be available. No one will be sitting in the borough hall waiting for us. The letter includes only value, not the rate-ables - so no tax information will be included.

Way to report, PATCH. Where's Brendan when you need him!!!!

Um without the rates we will have no idea if we should go and complain. What they say the house is worth really has no bearing on anything. I'd say I'm surprised, but I called it earlier. Sigh..

Jeff - I sure hope to God that is incorrect!!! I fought my taxes, and won, just last year. This is stating that my house has to be worth over $125k less than what was decided last year in order to pay the same amount or taxes this year!!!!!

Watching out for a MAJOR increase! More than $4k than last year, unless my home lost another $125k....

Who knows I just saw that the average was 30%, but obviously that can vary on an individual basis and that number could be mumbo jumbo for all I know. My house was assessed in 2008 at a laughable 205,800. Zillow which honestly isn't all that accurate has it listed at like 117,000. I'm guessing the assessment will be in the 140ish range. No letter today. :(

I was just assessed in 2012 after I fought it and won... so basically, I am already freaking...and this is before the letter too!!! 30% would be nice, and be about the same tax amount I am paying now.... fingers crossed!!! Let me know how you make out, and good luck!

Look, it's not rocket science! You will never pay any less. If you live on the lake, you will continue to pay substantially for that advantage. For those with extremely short memories, the only reason this all happened was because some property owners tried to beat the system by filing tax appeals which, in effect, shifted the financial burden to other property owners and they boasted about their activities. How stupid was that? The result was inevitable. Enjoy your new tax bill in August!

Agreed! I had to fight them because I was over 200k over market value. I never tried to beat the system... just pay a fair amount. My house is on the market, because it is no longer an advantage to be on the water... not with this school system at least! I can't afford the taxes and a decent school for my kids. It's sad really. 17 years ago (when we came here) this town was a lot different. Now it seems to be falling apart.

Just received letter.

Value down 21%.

Estimated Taxes on company website went UP 22% !!!!!

Called to set up appt ..... only avail Fri, Sat & Mon.

See now you know why I'm worried. Maybe I should't open the letter today if I get it.

Just got my letter too - estimated taxes up 21% from 2012. Calling a relator and getting out of this town.

Not home yet to get my letter... but this is why is felt sick last night after plugging my 'assumed' value into that website. I wish you all luck! Sounds like it might be a good time to become a realtor!!!!

Mine dropped a couple hundred for the year. Guess I should be happy, but my house is 80K less then the last assessment. So ya my taxes went down, but my house really isn't worth anything lol.

I think the assessment company changed the formula on their excel sheet from earlier today. Mine is coming out lower than this afternoon but a slight increase overall.
"Shine On"

cany believe what im hearing on here,its really simple....they... the circle of trouble were loosing money to the few who decided to appeal there propertiy taxes so they decide what looked like a move top please property owners by reassessing the whole town...and as its turns out it was all just a chess move to change the MULTIPLIER and now we have check-mate and our taxes stay the same or higher even with the lower assessment...how the ell does anyone knows there taxes went down when that wont be known until ...summmmmmer..... they just spent 350.000 thousand to reassess not drop anyones taxes,you people are comparing an apple to a orange

obviousley this only benefits town......why else would the spend 300kplus for this.....way to go little town on the lake!!!!! vaseline should have been included in the letter!!!!!

I just ran the numbers on my house. 2012 assessed value reduced 27% for 2013. Taxes for 2013 increased by 2.89%......not a horrific amount, but this is my net % increase BEFORE the inevitable budget increase. If the "anointed ones" can average this amount of tax increase for each home in the borough, they will have covered their asses for the $350K cost of the revaluation, other associated self-caused legal costs, probably pocket some additional cash AND then pull in some additional tax revenue with the budget increase. I thought part of the the process was to realign assessed values with appraisal/market values. I had a professional bank appraisal done on my home approx. 8 months ago which came in $35K higher than new assessment. Guess I should just keep quiet and be "happy" with my increase(s).

As much as I love conspiracy theories, what they are doing makes total sense.

When they did the assessment in 2008 the house prices were still super inflated, BUT they evenly split the money across the town based off everyone having the same inflated amount. So the price doesn't really matter. It's only used to figure out how to split the taxes across the town that's it. Don't compare to bank assessments it's in their best interest to inflate the assessment. That's how the whole housing bubble kept trucking along for so long.

People then saw that their house lost an asston (that's a technical term) of money in their house values so they appealed and that lowered their tax rate. So when they win the appeal their taxes go down and that causes an issue as now the money isn't evenly split.

SOOOOOO people that disputed their taxes rates recently and won will most likely see their rate go right back to where it was before. It's not some grand scheme... The same amount of money is being taken out in taxes + whatever it went up this year.

And yes they changed the multiplier or we would all have seen our taxes drop like a rock since the values were so far off.

We have plenty to complain about in this town don't get me wrong. The median salary in the schools is totally insane for where our school ranking is. The amount of honors classes available in HS is deplorable. I hit the character limit so I'll stop now.

Got the letter, in essence my house is worth $170k less but I will be paying $1200 more this year due to the 3% tax rate for this year. A 16% increase, and that's if there's no budget increase. Why do taxes just keep going up in a town that is obviously going down the tubes? School system is one of the worst in the state, where is my money going? Who would want to buy a house here? Wasn't there a 2% cap across NJ? I would love to join a Hopatcong citizen action commitee to take a look at the budget and see where all this money is being spent.

You would think with a no-vote, guaranteed (by recent state law) 2% increase in the school budget, programs could be retuned that would improve and make the school system more attractive but the word on the "educational" street is that Hopatcong's state funding will be cut by at least $1,000,000 for the '13-'14 school year. With enrollment declining because, in part, school choice has made Lenape Valley, and next year Sparta, more educationally attractive and viable alternatives, the future is uncertain. (School) taxes will go up 2%, less will be offered to fewer students, not a good forecast.

Clay - Do you have any type of confirmation on Sparta becoming choice? Nothing on NJ DoE website that included the announcement of the new schools approved for next year & nothing on Sparta website. would love for my kids to go there...

Clay - GREAT information!! I had heard the rumors, but just kept checking the sites for the past 2 months... I will call on Tuesday.
Thank you for sharing.

Sparta school system will be enrolling students from Hopatcong next year, how many students usually are permitted to be enrolled? This will be a great option for students rather than the Hopatcong school system only option

Based on the facts that Sparta has approached the NJDOE to become a choice school district and had completed an enormous addition to their high school just a few years ago, it seems they have the capacity to accept a substantial number of choice students. Hopatcong may eventually revert to a K-8 district!

One can hope and dream, Clay! Hopatcong k-8 & Sparta High would be awesome for this town.

I dont understand how they can do a full assesment when they didnt even come INTO my house! Last time they actually came into my house to do the assesment...So how can they actually do a reasonable one?? Now according to them, my property is now worth $100k less! Let's see how this is going to effect my taxes

I hate to burst anybody’s bubble but the real, hard truth is the amount of real estate taxes you will be paying, beginning with the August tax bill, will NOT be going down. You might think that your newly reduced assessed valuation might predict lower taxes but that is simply not correct. The total tax levy for the town will only be going up thus the tax rate will be increased. If for some unexplained reason your taxes remain the same, keep your mouth shut!

Yes, and remember the BOE is guaranteed a 2% increase without a vote! All those years the BOE budget was voted down and reductions were made, not so anymore. If the BOE budget does not exceed a 2% increase, it's good to go! How can this Governor ever claim he's held the line against property tax increases? What a fraud!

I would like to know, when did these people come around doing the assessments? I never saw these people. Did they just drive by real quick, or just sit in the office looking up properties on one of the sites and makes some type of adjustment???