Tax Revolt Smolders On

The Princeton Fair Tax Revaluation Group, a citizens’ group that formed in protest against last year’s property revaluations, say they have the support needed to go ahead with plans to sue the Borough, Township, and Appraisal Systems - the firm contracted to carry out the revaluation - for failing to do the job properly.  

Presentations at Wednesday night’s public forum in Township Hall began with a video showing  testimonials from disgruntled homeowners, many of whom said the tax hike that resulted from the revaluation of their properties might force them to leave town.

The Fair Tax Revaluation Group presented to a full house the results of nearly a year of research into the hows and whys of the 2009 tax revaluation, and case studies of houses of comparable value being revalued at dramatically different rates.  Jim Firestone, a realtor and one of the founders of the Fair Tax movement, then demonstrated an interactive Google map which the group has pulled together, showing at a glance which neighborhoods were most adversely affected.  With red flags - meaning tax increases of more than 50% - clustered around the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood, Fair Tax member Tom Pyle said he was “not happy with what is happening to the fabric of our community.”

Bill Potter, of the law firm Potter & Dickson, was invited to talk about the implications of suing the government. He said the main issue in this case would be a constitutional question of the discriminatory impact of what’s going on.  “There’s also a more prosaic challenge  - arbitrary and capricious claims - in which government action which is irrational cannot withstand scrutiny. I think we have a viable course of action.  It’s going to be a long and difficult slog.  I think you should do it,” he added, saying that his firm would offer a discounted rate for public interest causes.

“Should we consider action against Appraisal Systems rather than have our government use our tax money to defend themselves against us?” asked resident Anthony Lunn.  Despite the irony of his question, “I’m in favor of a lawsuit,” Lunn added later, “because there’s no alternative at this point.”

Asked what it would take for the group to make for a formal decision to take the governments to court, Firestone smiled and said, “$3,000,” as he gathered checks from the audience in response to a call to help fund the lawsuit.

The Borough and Township have formed a joint revaluation study commission that holds its first public forum tomorrow, Thursday, at 7pm in Borough Hall.

About the Author

Donna Liu

Founder, AllPrinceton

Donna Liu is a digital journalist who has lived in Princeton with her family since 2002.  She founded AllPrinceton in 2010 as an online hub for community news and information.  At Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, she built UChannel - an online archive of public affairs lectures in academia.  Before that she established and managed CNN International's Asia Production Center in Hong Kong.