---

The controversial but now successful Monmouth County property assessment program, implemented locally by Asbury Park’s County appointed Tax Assessor Erick Aguiar, has been recognized by the International Association of Assessing Officers [IAAO] – the Pulitzer of assessing awards.

Known officially as the Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program [ADP], the procedural program was signed into law on Jan 25, 2013. Heralded by the Monmouth County Board of Taxation and the Monmouth County Assessors Association, Aguiar was instrumental in helping to roll out the program in Asbury Park. 

“We are incredibly proud to receive the Distinguished Assessment Jurisdiction Award from the IAAO,” Aguiar said. “This is the very first time anyone in New Jersey has won the award and we’re thrilled to be recognized for our efforts to create equity in property taxation in Monmouth County.”

While the program places significantly greater demands on local Assessors and the County Tax Board to deliver cost savings and enhanced public services through annual reassessments, a revised assessment calendar, modern appraisal techniques, and the use of technology have all led to more accurate property assessments, officials said. 

The ADP also garnered the Harvard Kennedy School 2018 Innovations in American Government Award and was recognized this month by the Monmouth County Freeholders and Sen Declan O’Scanlon, a long supporter of the revised assessment program. 

“We had sort of a controversial program come out years ago,” Freeholder Director Tom Arnone said during the July 11 County meeting. “Fast forward to a few years later, now that everyone has seen a balance [more than 50 percent reduction in tax appeals] but the people that were behind the program took a lot of heat and aggravation during that time.” 

“For the record, I believed in what was being done and [County Tax Administer] Matt [Clark] was a visionary,” Freeholder Burry said. “I want to thank you for your patience and tenacity because without it we would have folded.”  

Clark said 53 communities in Monmouth County annually collected over $2.3 billion in property taxes to help pay for municipal, county and school services but each year billions of dollars were being paid by the wrong people. The new program and its annual calendar have avoided the budgetary collection shortfall in Monmouth County by $23,450,530 from 2014 to 2018. 

“If there is fairness to life, everyone in the State should know the enormity of the efforts that Mr Erick Aguiar and Alex Worth put forth to ensure that long-term overpayments and underpayments are ended with New Jersey,” Clark said. “By any metric, the program is a success and it’s our strongest recommendation that the system be replicated throughout the state.”

The Distinguished Assessment Jurisdiction Award, nicknamed the “Pulitzer Prize of Assessing,” has been awarded annually by IAAO since 1983, city officials said. The award is presented to a nation, state/provincial, regional or local assessment agency that has instituted a technical, procedural or administrative program which is an improvement over prior programs in that jurisdiction and is generally recognized as a component of a model assessment system and a contributing factor to equity in property taxation. 

“A great policy, especially when it makes a real difference to people always faces its hurdles and controversies,” O’Scanlon said. “But when you are doing your job right you stand behind your policy. This is government working as it should, standing by its policy despite the push back.” 

The international award will be presented at the IAAO Annual Conference in Niagara Falls, Canada on Monday, September.

Founded in 1934, the IAAO is a nonprofit, educational, and research association comprised of government assessment officials and others interested in the administration of the property tax with the goal of promoting excellence in property appraisal, assessment administration and property tax policy through professional development, research and standards, officials said. Its more than 7,000 membership worldwide consists of those within governmental, business, and academic communities.

“Matt has built an incredible team of hardworking dedicated smart people who are spending tremendous amounts of time doing their part to reform taxes in the highest taxed state in the country,” Aguiar said. “Implementation of this program was not without its challenges and the harder it got, the harder we worked. The recognition by Moody’s, Harvard Kennedy School, the IAAO, the Freeholders and Senator O’Scanlon are representations of that hard work all involved have put forward.”

For more information about the IAAO and the International Distinguished Assessment Jurisdiction Award, visit iaao.org.  For more on the ADP program, click here. For more information on the City of Asbury Park, visit cityofasburypark.com.

——————————————————————-

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Asbury Park Sun is affiliated with the triCityNews newspaper.

---