PRESS RELEASE FROM NEPTUNE UNITED

Neptune Township residents deserve fair assessments of all property in Neptune, such that the tax burden is distributed equitably. Neptune United, consistent with its mission of advocating for parity and equity for Neptune, has spent the last several months reviewing eight years’ worth of publicly available property assessment data, all of which is available at Monmouth County’s Office of Record Management.

During its review, Neptune United (NU) identified repeated discrepancies between land value assessments assigned to property owned by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) versus land value assessments assigned to Homeowners. In November 2023, NU contacted Bernard Haney, the Tax Assessor for Neptune Township, via email and certified mail, asking seven specific questions, each of which sought an explanation concerning the identified inconsistencies. Mr. Haney never responded. NU is publicly sharing its findings, to alert the public of three major concerns, with the hope that it will ensure the fair assessment of all property in Neptune Township such that the tax burden is distributed equitably.

Before identifying the three concerns, it is important to reiterate that the focus is on the assessed land value of properties, not on the tax paid. The reason this distinction is important is because the OGCMA owns many properties that are exempt from property tax because they have been found to qualify as “church [or] charitable property.” Regardless, all property, even that which is exempt from property tax, must be assessed annually. (Take, for example, the Great Auditorium, which is exempt from tax under the “church [or] charitable property” exemption. Despite its exempt status, in 2023, the Great Auditorium had an Assessment Total of $7,455,700.)

The analysis conducted by Neptune United identified the following three concerns:

CONCERN #1: There appears to be a pattern of lower assessments for land on which the OGCMA must pay tax vs. OGCMA land which is tax exempt.

To illustrate this concern, let’s look at two adjacent parcels on Inskip Avenue, one being the Inskip Tennis Courts, the other being what the property assessment data refers to as a “park.” The two parcels are adjacent and both are approximately 0.59 acres in size. While the “park” is exempt from property tax, the tennis courts are not, and therefore the OGCMA is required to pay tax on its assessed value. For 2023, the assessed value of the land of the park (exempt) was $811,300, while the assessed value of the land of the tennis courts was $215,600. Although the lots are the same size, the taxable land is valued at $595,700 lower than the tax-exempt land.

Even more concerning are the circumstances surrounding the large area of vacant land (which consists of two parcels) on Ocean Pathway, where the Flea Market is held annually (“Ocean Pathway”). Ocean Pathway is not exempt, and the two parcels in total consist of 3.0828 acres of “vacant land.” Because Ocean Pathway is not exempt, it’s logical to expect that the OGCMA is paying tax on the 3.0828 acres.

As mentioned, in 2023, the Great Auditorium was assessed at a total of $7,455,700; of that, $3,325,100 was the assessment value for the 2.73 acres of land on which the Great Auditorium is located. Simply put, despite being exempt, the 2.73 acres of land under the Great Auditorium had an assessed value of $3,325,100. Given that, it is concerning that the 3.0828 acres of vacant land known as Ocean Pathway has an assessed value of “0.” How can over three acres of oceanfront land be worthless? As a result, no taxes are being paid on land for which the Township could be collecting a substantial amount of revenue in property taxes.

The second and third concerns relate to the land assessments of non-exempt OGCMA Property when compared to Homeowner Property. We compared the assessed land values of each of the non-exempt OGCMA Properties to the assessed land values of the three nearest Homeowner Properties (excluding those that had recently sold). Given that all real property is unique, we focused our analysis on the value of the land (excluding the structure/improvements). Our findings, along with every data point collected for tax years 2016-2023 (which can be viewed in full at www.neptuneunited.org) are noteworthy.

CONCERN #2: There appears to be an alarming discrepancy in the assessed value of land between that which is OGCMA Property and that which is Homeowner Property.

Of course, we needed to compare apples to apples. Therefore, to account for the variation in the size of the properties, we took the land assessment of each parcel and calculated the price per acre based on that value. As can be seen on the “Assessed Value Per Acre” tab of the Spreadsheet, land owned by the OGCMA is assessed at an average of $1,721,461.92 per acre (again, limited to property on which the OGCMA pays tax). Whereas the average land assessment of Homeowner Property is $8,040,336.16. That is a difference of over $6.3 million per acre. Does this ensure the equitable distribution of the tax burden?

CONCERN #3: The rate of increase in assessments experienced by Homeowners from 2016-2023 is significantly higher than the rate experienced by the OGCMA in that same timeframe.

Specifically, as can be seen on the “Percentage Change 2016-2023” tab, during that eight-year period, the OGCMA experienced an average increase of 32.61% to its land assessments with respect to non-exempt properties. Whereas Homeowners experienced an 85.07% increase in their land assessments. Thus, Homeowners experienced a rate of increase that is 52% higher than that experienced by the OGCMA.

It would be unfathomable for Neptune Township to give preferential treatment to one property owner, to the detriment of thousands of others. Therefore, we are in no way accusing any party of any misconduct. Instead, we are asking that the appropriate state and local officials look into the concerns raised and provide the public with an explanation as to what would otherwise seem preferential.

For more information please email beheard@neptuneunited.org