The robocall was about the recently completed township wide reassessment and seems to have been smartly timed to coincide with the mailing of property tax notices to Middletown homeowners.
The message seems to be simple enough; Just because homeowner's property valves have been reassessed lower it doesn't mean that the amount of taxes they will pay will be lower as a result. Middletown must raise the tax rate to correspond with falling property values in order to collect the $45 million dollars or so needed to support the Township budget.
I recorded message off my answering machine and have posted it below along with a transcript below that.
My only question about this robocall is, who is this group that calls themselves Concerned Citizens of Middletown? I like their message.
I wonder if they have anything to do with local TEA party activists?
Hello, I am a concerned Middletown resident.Have you heard that the Township committee is engaging in an elaborate shell game with our tax dollars?
After spending millions on a re-evaluation and now a reassessment to fix faulty property values, our taxes will not be going down.
As a matter of fact they will be going up!
Regardless of how our homes are valued the Township needs to collect $45 million to balance its budget.
Pay close attention to your next tax bill then check with your neighbors. Were their taxes affected?
Paid for by the Concerned Citizens of Middletown.
8 comments:
No, unlike your ilk, the tea party believes in constructive criticism
The Tea Party should be all over the Republican leadership in this town.
They criticize Obama and the Dems for waste and mismanagement, but when it comes to the pitiful display of leadership and fiscal irresponsibility in Middletown they remain quiet. Just wait till you see how much our bond debt has increased and who profits from it. The bond attorney for Middletown is non other than the Republican chairman, Peter Carton.
Sounds like a conflict of interest to me.
Why doesn't the Tea Party practice what they preach?
Isn't Carton a bond attorney for the County also. Talk about cronyism and patronage.......
Who ever said the Twp engaged in reassessment to lower property taxes? The purpose is to get property values in line to avoid continued appeals for which the Twp pays 100% of the money back despite receiving 23% of the money.
Another desperate attempt by the Middletown Democrats to stir up controversy that's just not there.
Anon 7:11
The purpose of the reassessment was to stop people from appealing their taxes, that's correct. But why were people appealing their property taxes? Because they felt that they were being over taxed by the high assessments.
So the value of residents property were lowered in order to stop the appeals and appease those that were seeking relief, unfortunately that releif is only short lived because the the Township tax rate will need to be adjusted higher to offset lower home values. Those people who had their assessments lowered will still be paying the same as if their homes were valued higher.
As for your and the TC's arguement that they have to back 100% of the tax appeals while the county, school system and library get off scott free is a weak one at best. The township collects all tax money and therefore should be the one paying it back, the possible exception being the county.
Remember, the Township owes the Middletown school system nearly $62million in deferred taxes. The Township should be putting a portion of those dollars away to pay for appeals on the school boards behalf instead of spending it with no plan or idea on how to repay it.
At the March 7 Township Committee meeting CFO Nick Trasente said the county does give back their share of the tax appeals indirectly. They don’t give the money back to the Township, but the Township has to adjust the county rate so the residents get the break the following year. The Township still has to pay out the total amount of the appeal from their budget. The Township then gets a credit on the county portion of the appeal and adjusts the rate the county is paid.
Maybe it's time to put the school taxes in ESCROW because it does not belong to the Township,it belongs to the schools and the TC should not use it.The TC has not managed money with any sense of responsibility in a good many years,
That's the voters fault because the voters keep electing fiscally irresponsible buffoons like we currently have... a self serving egotist and the flighty female and two carpetbaggers and a mute (maybe keeping his mouth shut keeps him out of trouble) whose vocabulary consists of two words, yes and no comment.
About time for every citizen in town to protest the poor excuse we call government today in this town. Time to PAY ATTENTION because these clowns are wasting YOUR MONEY! They refuse to take responsibility for that glaring fault. PATRONAGE costs plenty!
Elections have consequences!!!!
It was not the tea party, more then likely it was the people who lost the last election. I do object to dumb phone messages especially when the caller is afraid to leave their name or no.They need to focus on the next two elections ie. county and board of ed.sculnerg
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