You are so right. Everyone knows that a 40x 60 lot with a two bedroom one bathroom cottage should be assessed at $2,000,000 and the yearly property tax should be $24,000. Its only fair.

@Michael Capo

You can exagerate all you want. I do appraisals on the side and I've seen first hand how that $40K bungaloo (not appraised for 20 years) should be at $400K and the owners wants to sell it for $425K. Can't have your cake and eat it too. It's about time the barrier island paid it's fair share.

i have spoken,
i call BS on that...........just because you may be able to get $400,000 , which i dont believe you can, especially AFTER Sandy, that does NOT mean the ASSESSED value should be at 100% !!!!!!.....if that is the case , how come a house that is sold for $200,000 or bought at foreclosure at $100,000 does not get re-assesed at those prices.....this also doesnt begin to go into the fact, that MOST of the houses are only used for 3 months a year and/or why if it costs the town $200 per house to pick up garbage during the year, why a million dollar house pays $900 for garbage (thru property tax bill) and a small ranch on the main land pays $90 FOR A FIXED PRICE SERVICE

I concur. Everyone in Toms River should be ashamed.

really toms river should be ashamed of themselves..from ritacco his hirees the stupid bubble and caring less about the ratables and so on..o and congrats chief mastro for being the new sheriff and roselli the super of schools

This is by far the best post I have ever seen.

1.agree
2.agree
3.agree

I had the same reaction on New Year's Day. your last sentence says it all.

Gary M - water & sewer is one thing. It seems evident that they shouldn't charge Ortley at all for those. I think we should have to pay property taxes for the period from the storm until they let us back in. From my perspective they have effectively stolen my home for this time (not to mention made it more difficult for me to fix what Sandy broke & costing me money by making my house sit for so long without being able to do anything) and aren't entitled to ANY property taxes until they give it back.

An “A” zone (ABFE: A) means that the area is in a flood hazard area but is not subject to wave action. A “coastal A” is subject to moderate wave action, 1.5 to 3 ft waves. You must turn on the moderate wave action button to determine if you are a “coastal A” or a regular “A” zone. A “V” zone is a high hazard area subject to wave action greater than 3 feet.

The 1% El 8 number means that in a 100-year storm the expected water height is 8 feet above sea level.

The .2% El 12 means that in a 500-year flood the water height is expected to reach 12 feet above sea level.

Eventually your flood insurance will reflect the true hazard for your home. A “V“zone is the highest hazard, higher than a “coastal A,” which is higher than regular “A” The higher you are elevated the less the hazard. I have been told that for each foot above the base flood elevation (BFE) you get a 20% reduction in premium for flood insurance.

Coolerhead - Thank you. So this is saying you have to raise the house to 12 feet above sea level if you have damage more than 50% of the building assessed value?

No. First, the new maps are advisory only. They do not have force of law, yet. The Township can adopt them early or the Township will be forced to adopt them in a few years. Second, you will only be required to be at the 100-year flood elevation, plus an additional two or three feet, not the 500-year flood. At least one to two feet over the 100-year flood will be required; they call that free board. So even if the new elevations are adopted your elevation would need to be at least 8 plus two feet. Your house would probably be at elevation 10 or 11.
The advantage of the Township adopting the elevations now is that more money will be available to finance elevations now. In a few years when the new elevations become mandatory there may not be much money to help people elevate. Then beginning soon after they are mandatory, flood insurance will go up 20% each year until the premium matches the true risk of insurance. I was not flooded and I am not in a flood zone but a member of my family is. I was told that the house is in an A zone. Assuming maximum coverage, the existing house would be four feet below the new BFE. My uncles insurance would be $9,500 a year. If we elevated to BFE plus three the premium would be less than $600 per year. We are waiting to see the cost of elevating.

Thanks for the info

Coolerhead you have explained a lot, thank you and I understand why the town adopting these standards now might force more people to do it while $ is available, which will help them in the long run. The problem is that FEMA has designated V zones in areas where some homes only got 6 inches and were never flooded before and then have at least one or two other zone designations on the same street? That really hurts the integrity of their calculations. I think that FEMA has an obligation to revisit this immediately and get it right before any town adopts their standards.

what I was told from the insurance company is, well we were paying 700 a year, if we elevate it ten feet it will "only" go up to 7000, if we do not elevate it to that height it will be 30,000, and were in a reg zone a 1% el8 zone...all in all not too much damage from Sandy considering...first flood in the 75 year lifespan of the house...then even with complying with insurance and raising it the rates still x10 plus the 20% raises...if I had the money I'd pay off the mortgage and ditch the flood insurance...and on top of it because of the way the house was built back then to raise it that height it would have to be demolished and built from scratch...I just don't get so much of how their figuring this stuff out

Does anyone know how TR plans on determining how a homes damage exceeds 50% of the assessed value? Most homes in Ortley have an assessed value (just home, not land) in the area of 60 to 70 K. So a renovation bill of over 30K means mandatory house elevation?

I may very well be wrong about this but I'm pretty sure they did that right after the hurricane...I think that's what those colored slips on our doors and windows were...diff colors were different damage levels, I don't know if they'll be doing it again based on money, I think it's just the percentage of your home they estimated to be damaged...as far as I know they're not technically requiring anyone to raise their house...yet...more or less suggestion

I'd like to know the same...my home in ortley was just appraised about four years ago ... possibly 5 at the most being I know it was after my son was born...and there's no way I could ever sell the tiny 2 bedroom buffalo from the 40s for the close to 400000 it was appraised at, not before Sandy and definitely not now