Community Corner

Moorestown Reassessment Gets Underway Next Week

The township is taking extra steps to make sure residents feel comfortable in the wake of recent alleged thefts by a revaluation inspector in Palmyra.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story contained an error. The reassessment will impact the 2013 tax bills. Patch apologizes for the error. 

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Beginning next week, Moorestown residents can expect to see reassessment workers on the ground around town.

Tax assessor Dennis DeKlerk said the township’s and ASI’s (Appraisal System Inc.) goal is to have 90 percent of the properties in town—about 6,500 residential, 400 commercial—reinspected by the end of October.

DeKlerk is working with ASI to schedule a pair of public meetings to inform the public about the reassessment process, but aren’t able to wait for those meetings to be held to begin the process. The meetings will likely be held sometime in September—the thinking being they’ll get better attendance once summer is over, DeKlerk explained.

ASI and the township will post photos of the reassessors on their respective websites, so residents can identify the people who will be walking around their neighborhoods over the next couple months.

Nonetheless, residents should always ask for identification if anyone knocks on their door. DeKlerk said in most cases the field workers won’t be entering residents’ homes—just inspecting from the outside—but there will be some exceptions.

“An attempt will be made (to inspect the interior of the home) in cases where we did not get an interior inspection last time,” he said.

Property owners are under no obligation to let field workers into their property. However, if they do, DeKlerk said the inspectors are required to be accompanied by the property owner at all times during the inspection after reports surfaced of an inspector stealing prescription drugs from two homes in Palmyra.

According to the Burlington County Times, an employee of Professional Property Appraisers stole prescription medication from two homes in Palmyra during the borough’s revaluation. The revaluation has been suspended in the wake of the crime.

“It’s a shame,” said DeKlerk, explaining that the ASI inspectors are “under a mandate to be accompanied by the homeowner if they’re going through the house. And we would encourage the public to operate under the same regimen. We want residents to be as cautious as possible.”

. The new values will impact the 2013 tax bills.

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