At last week’s community meeting, Attorney Bruce Afran made the case for Princeton FairTax’s lawsuit. See his presentation and other comments from the meeting below. (Many thanks for Princeton Community Television for making the video available.)
Princeton Fair Tax Revaluation Group, Nov. 17, 2011 from Princeton Community Television on Vimeo.
Princeton Fair Tax today posts the contents of its complaint as filed in court by its lawyers, Bruce Afran and Bill Potter. The complaint recites the history of the flawed tax revaluation performed by ASI at the behest of Princeton Borough and Princeton Townships. It presents its fourteen counts at the heart of its case. The complaint marks the culmination of 18 months of diligent research and deliberate community discussion. Princeton FairTax invites all to read the complaint and comment.
To read the Princeton FairTax legal complaint, click here.
An open public meeting of the Princeton Fair Tax Revaluation Group will be held on Thursday night, November 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the main assembly room of Princeton Township Hall. Legal counsel will be there for an update.
Now that the lawsuit has been filed with the courts, the topics to be addressed will include:
1) What is the projected timetable for the lawsuit and what it means to us;
2) How does Princeton’s consolidation impact the revaluation lawsuit; and
3) What kinds of continued fundraising would help our citizens prevail?
It’s evident to us at Princeton Fair Tax that we will end up paying much more over the years if we don’t participate in standing up for equal treatment for all and against this systematically flawed reassessment.
For a summary of the lawsuit’s details prepared by Dale Meade, click here.
April 28, 7:30 pm… Township Hall… Mark the date in your calendar.
Princeton FairTax Revaluation Group is convening another community meeting to discuss the ongoing–and unresolved–matter of the flawed 2010 tax assessment in Princeton. By then the Joint Commission appointed by the Borough Council and Township Committee will have issued its report. They are sure to be controversial. At the meeting PFTRG will also hear from its lawyers about the status and prospects of the emerging lawsuit. Former Township Mayor Jim Floyd will chair the meeting. Pass the word! Come to the meeting!
Also, check out the posted announcement here.
Mayor Chad Goerner and the Princeton Township Committee officially received the report of their appointed Joint Commission, which confirmed–but excused–the deficiencies and subjectivity of the flawed 2010 property tax assessment revaluation. In response, PFTRG’s Dale Meade and Jim Firestone described the detailed research and data derived over the past year by PFTRG (in the absence of data requested but not provided by ASI). They also expressed the disappointment of scores of local property owners. “I can tell you, from experience, that figures are still way off,” Jim Firestone asserted.
Mayor Goerner (at ~1:32:00 on the video) then surprisingly responded: “I haven’t seen any of the data you provided, because quite frankly I don’t believe that you did [provide it]… I have asked you for specific data, and I have not received it!” Mr. Marx of the Commission then said, “People have to be reasonable.”
Former Township Mayor Bernie Miller then described his three meetings with representatives of PFTRG. Mr. Miller expressed his opinion: “It was clear that what I was dealing with was a moving data set. I don’t believe that at any point in time that… it was a complete data set that was to be addressed by the municipality or the tax assessor.”
Local citizen Giles Crane of Lake Drive then spoke. After commending the Commission for its efforts, Mr. Crane then talked about the hardships being imposed. “What is now needed is action!” Crane called for the Committee to set a tax cap until more insight can be gained about the assessment and property taxation problem. “This is an opportunity for you to show leadership.”
The Princeton Packet reports, “Fireworks erupted after the Princeton Joint Revaluation Study Commission presented its findings to Township Committee Monday night.”
“Even with the citizen’s review, some people are still not satisfied with the outcome.
Princeton Fair Tax is a group of citizens that is challenging the revaluation done in 2010, saying systematic flaws in the process resulted in skewed results that are driving people from their homes. The group is beginning a lawsuit against Appraisal Systems Inc., the company that conducted the revaluation, the township and the borough.”
“The raised voices between Mayor Chad Goerner and Princeton Fair Tax founder Jim Firestone began after Mr. Firestone criticized the council for only having one real estate agent on the revaluation commission saying “there’s a terrible lack of knowledge and lack of respect for your citizens.”
See the entire Packet article here.
Princeton Township residents (from left) Eric Craig, Arden Pollard and Leighton Newlin discuss their new property assessments last May on Birch Avenue in the John Witherspoon neighborhood, one of the most heavily affected by recent tax revaluations in the township and in Princeton Borough.
The Trenton Times has reported on growing tension in Princeton over the accuracy of the flawed 2010 property tax revaluation.
According to the report,”Tempers flared this week as residents challenged a commission’s conclusion that the recent property revaluation of the two Princetons was accurate… The commission, which presented its findings to the township committee Monday, acknowledged that while taxes on some modest properties went up as a result of the revaluation, that doesn’t mean the revaluation was flawed…”
Read the entire report here. Or, link to it on the web here.
With time still left before the April 1 deadline here in Mercer County, FairTax Reval Group urges all who believe their property tax assessments are too high to file an appeal. And now we are pleased to be able to arm you with more information about how to do so. Friends to our east, the Monmouth County Board of Taxation, have published an excellent guide to the property assessment appeal process, albeit for Monmouth, not Mercer. But it can direct you in the process for Mercer. Check it out here. Also see it in our File An Appeal section on our “How To…” tab.
Urging all Princeton property owners to consider applying for 2011 assessment appeals by the April 1 deadline, Princeton FairTax Revaluation Group has posted new information about the process. Under its “How To…” tab, PFTRG has now included a list of considerations for property owners who believe their assessments are too high. The process is simple. See what is required by clicking here.
To preserve our community’s fairness, transparency, and economic diversity, Princeton FairTax Revaluation Group and other like-minded community members seek to petition our local government officials for action. We wish for them to take expeditious action to forestall the pending devastation to our community’s economic diversity and our individual economic wellbeing wrought by the significant and precipitous property tax increases resulting from the flawed 2010 Princeton Property Tax Valuation Assessment. We urge you to show your support by joining our petition drive. Visit our petition drive page here.
Receive our posts to your RSS reader.