Morristown officials and assessor differ on cause of confusing revaluation notices

Several Morristown residents told the council on April 24 that an October revaluation estimate included in mailings prompted confusion about their expected 2024 tax bills. Christine Conte Collins told the council her 2023 tax notice showed $39,938, that an appraisal company’s letter later indicated her assessment would fall to $26,000, and that subsequent county and school equalization tables produced different tax outcomes.

Mayor Timothy P. Daugherty said the letters caused legitimate confusion because they did not include county or school levies. "They never should have sent those estimates out without calculating the county and the school," he said, urging steps to prevent repeat errors and saying the administration had asked whether more frequent revaluations or other safeguards were possible.

Kevin Esposito, Morristown’s assessor, told the council the underlying assessments are correct and defended the letter as a preliminary estimate. Esposito said the revaluation firm sent early letters with the budgets available at the time and that the final tax rate will not be certified until July or August: "The numbers are correct... we still do not know the 100% accurate numbers. We won't know that until the tax rate is certified sometime in July or August." He invited residents who believe an assessment is incorrect to contact his office for review.

Council members said they had received many constituent inquiries and asked administration and the appraisal firm to meet residents after the meeting. The mayor and the business administrator said they had addressed the issue with the tax assessor and the revaluation firm and promised follow-up communications to clarify the difference between an early estimate and the final certified tax rate.

Next steps: the council said it will work with administration to determine administrative or procedural changes (including options for more frequent reevaluations) so that future estimate mailings better reflect likely total tax liabilities.