By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Voorhees Sun
Residents opening their estimated tax bills recently may have been shocked to see how much their bills are going up this quarter. Some are even seeing more than a 5 percent increase in their bill, Township Tax Collector Jennifer Dukelow said, but after this quarter it will even out to about 4 percent.
A number of residents have been calling the township and asking why their tax bills have increased by almost 9 percent, in some cases, for this bill, Dukelow said. She warns that many have tried to calculate the increase by themselves, which is usually done incorrectly. Looking at the increase from the second tax quarter to the third is not accurate, as the second quarter was based on the 2009 municipal tax rate, she said.
In most cases, the actual estimated tax bill is increasing by about 5 percent for this quarter, she said. The next tax bill will be much lower, she said, and overall the average taxpayer in town will not see their bill increase more by the state-mandated 4 percent cap.
“They’re taking the last quarter or last year’s August amount and calculating the increase that way. When they break it down to a quarter it’s going to be skewed,” Dukelow said. “The first two quarters are always based on the prior year’s rate. The August and November bills are where we make up the increase. “
The next tax bill residents receive, Dukelow said, will be a much lower increase and will even out. It will also not be an estimated tax bill.
The $25.4 million 2010 municipal budget was passed in early July and features a near 3-cent tax rate increase for residents.
The 2.9-cent increase means $93 more a year in taxes for the average assessed home in Voorhees, according to township representatives.
“This is a bad year; we’ve had bad years before. Because this is hitting people harder than the last time it was this high, it’s understandable that we’re getting so many phone calls,” Dukelow said. “We’re more than happy to explain it to them, and we’ll go through each bill and calculate what they’re going to pay.”
Also, Dukelow reminded residents that the 2 percent tax rate cap that was approved by the state would not go into effect until next year. It has no bearing on this year’s tax rate or this year’s tax bills, she said.
Township Administrator Larry Spellman said it was also bad timing that the tax bills came out at the same time as the committee announced its new township hall relocation plan. Many residents have called and asked why this plan was announced at a time when taxes are increasing by so much, he said.
“We’ve been planning this for more than 20 years, and we announce it the same week that the increased tax bills come out,” he said with a chuckle.
