By Senator Tom Kean and Senator Robert W. Singer

Last month we sent a letter to Governor Corzine, asking him to support Senate committee hearings on the merits of creating a statewide program for reassessing property values.

This letter was driven by our concern that the current recession will throw our local tax assessments out of balance, potentially making them unfair and in violation of the state Constitution.

What's at stake is fundamental fairness in taxation, a concept so vital to democratic government that Article 8 of our state Constitution guarantees it as a right of all citizens.

During these turbulent times, many home and business owners are responding to steep drops in their property values by appealing assessments, but the vast majority of residents have not yet filed appeals.

What we're trying to prevent is a system where only those taxpayers who can successfully navigate the local appeals process will pay taxes based on updated assessments of their property values. Such piecemeal readjustments during this downturn could leave property owners who don't file appeals paying more than their fair share of the taxes collected by our school districts and towns.

Here are some facts to consider:

After property values began to fall last year, the offices of local tax assessors were hit with a flood of appeals.

Appeals are up

Published reports indicate that property tax appeals in Passaic County rose by 70 percent last year. Appeals in Wanaque nearly quadrupled, reports said.

It's clear that resourceful home and business owners with knowledge of government, resources and time are already exercising their rights to have their property assessed based on current market prices.

It's logical to assume that assessors will be hit with an even bigger flood of appeals this year as a home-buying market depressed by falling incomes forces property values even lower and newly jobless residents attempt to reduce their tax burdens by asking for reductions in assessments of their properties.

If we allow the piecemeal approach to continue, two identical homes in the same neighborhood or subdivision could be assessed at different values if one owner files a successful appeal and the other doesn't. Uniformity in assessment is the only fair way to levy taxes.

In some measure, if one citizen's home is reduced in value and his taxes fall, his neighbor who doesn't appeal will pay higher taxes to make up for the lost revenue.

The ranks of those who do not file will include homeowners distracted by very real stresses in their lives such as job loss, difficulty in making mortgage payments and family conflicts caused by financial pressures. They will also include elderly and disabled citizens who simply can't file appeals without assistance.

This shouldn't be allowed to happen. The governor and the Legislature swear an oath to a Constitution that guarantees that taxation will be done fairly. No system of taxation that puts its most vulnerable citizens at a disadvantage to other taxpayers can be called fair, and it is likely to be challenged in court.

Local tax burden

Let's be clear: Our argument isn't that a statewide reassessment will lower the overall property tax burden.

The local tax burden can't be reduced without reductions in local government spending or increases in state or federal aid. A reassessment has nothing to do with those decisions.

But we have to ensure that we have the system of fair taxation required by the New Jersey Constitution. The state Constitution and a belief in the basic principles of democracy require that we act.

This opinion/editorial apperared in the Trenton Times and The Record of Bergen County on February 5, 2009.