Dancer Legislation Halts Tax Abatement Abuses, Saves Property Taxpayer Dollars

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 14, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) –A bill to be introduced by Assemblyman Ron Dancer will relieve property taxpayers from a needless financial burden by uncovering and stopping unwarranted tax abatements.

“We know significant losses are being incurred by municipalities that fail to re-examine the tax exempt status of certain properties,” said Dancer, R-Ocean,Burlington, Middlesex and Monmouth. “When that happens, it results in an unnecessary strain on taxpayers that continues year after year.

“By identifying specific properties that no longer qualify, and assessing the appropriate taxes to those owners, we provide badly needed property tax relief to other property-owners,” said Dancer.

Dancer’s bill ensures that municipalities actively monitor the qualifications of exempt properties. It requires municipal auditors to review documentation of properties that have been granted a tax abatement or tax exemption, for the purposes of determining whether a property continues to be eligible.

“By identifying specific properties that no longer qualify, and assessing the appropriate taxes to those owners, we provide badly needed property tax relief to other property-owners.”

An audit by the state comptroller found numerous examples of properties whose owners did not pay anything, although they no longer met the tax-exempt threshold. Eleven properties specifically cited were no longer being used for tax-exempt purposes. They were worth a combined value of more than $2 million, and represented an annual void of more than $50,000 in tax revenue.

Under the bill, the commissioner of Community Affairs will establish procedures for the selection of abated properties to be reviewed by the auditors, and the list of properties selected for review will be prepared annually and made available to the public.