Findings, declarations relative to the "Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program."

2. The Legislature finds and declares:

a. The current real property assessment system fails to take full advantage of a collaborative system of property assessment between a county board of taxation, through its administrator, and the municipal assessors employed by each municipality in a county, that would result in a cost-effective and accurate process of real property assessment to benefit real property owners and property taxpayers. The benefits of a more collaborative system of real property assessment would accrue to local property owners and property taxpayers through a system of a more precise, technology-driven real property assessment process that would ensure that each municipal assessor is using the same technology as his or her colleagues in assessing real property, and by modifications to the annual real property assessment calendar to better manage the assessment, and taxation, of real property in a manner that is more sensitive and responsive to the demands of the municipal budget calendar.

b. A collaborative system of real property assessment would also benefit municipalities by reducing the number of successful property assessment appeals filed annually with a county board of taxation and the Tax Court, thereby protecting the funding of municipal budgets through property tax dollars from the impact of successful property assessment appeals, which usually require the refund of excess property taxes paid by a taxpayer and impact the local budget by reducing the amount of property tax dollars available to fund municipal operations.

c. It is in the public interest of the State and its many real property taxpayers to implement a demonstration program to investigate whether systemic changes to the current system of real property assessment, including revisions to the assessment calendar and the assessment appeal process, will help address the shortcomings of the municipal assessment system and the effect of those shortcomings on local property taxpayers by enhancing the performance of local tax assessors through the use of cutting-edge technology under the direction of the county tax board.

L.2013, c.15, s.2.