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Realty Appraisal Company has won the bid to conduct a city-wide property revaluation.

By a vote of 3-0, the city council last week awarded the contract to the company for an amount not to exceed $265,000. Mayor Ed Johson and Councilman Kevin Sanders were not present for the vote during the council meeting Wednesday, March 13.

While the city is not required to accept the lowest bid for this type of contract, Realty Appraisal Company was the low bidder. The contract is still subject to approval by the state division of taxation, but city attorney Fred Raffetto [pictured above at a prior meeting] said the division is ready to approve the contract when it’s received so the work can begin as soon as possible.

“They’ve indicated that as soon as they receive it, they’ll approve it,” said Raffetto. The agreement with Realty Appraisal Company requires the revaluation be completed in time for the 2014 tax year.

Last month, the city terminated its agreement with a previous company that had been hired to do the revaluation after that company upped its price by $40,000.

A property revaluation is required every decade so that the assessed values of properties reflect their true value for property taxation purposes. A revaluation is revenue-neutral. However, it will shift the tax burden to different property owners to better reflect market conditions, with some taxpayers seeing an increase in their tax bills and others seeing a decrease. Asbury Park last had a property revaluation in 2002.

According to the Realty Appraisal Company website, the company, founded in 1934, has conducted over 500 revaluations or reassessments since 1951. Based in West New York, the company also has a Monmouth County office in Oakhurst.

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