UPDATE: Reassessment Bidder Withdrawing Bid Over 'Political Cheap Shots'

UPDATE: Deputy Mayor Greg Gallo took exception with ASI CEO Ernie Del Guercio's comment that council had taken "political cheap shots" at the firm.

"The facts are that there were many inequities in appraisals of like properties even before the recession hit. ASI did present to council a few years ago and we wanted them to meet with us again before we would consider awarding the bid," Gallo wrote in an email to Patch. "If they were not willing to defend or represent themselves to us, the representatives of the taxpayers of the town, then perhaps the best decision was made."

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Appraisal Systems Inc. (ASI) has sent a letter formally notifying the township it is withdrawing its bid for reassessment over concerns of a hostile and politically toxic work environment.

In the letter, ASI CEO Ernie Del Guercio cites as the motivation for the firm pulling back its bid.

In that meeting, Mayor John Button and Deputy Mayor Greg Gallo placed part of the blame for on ASI, which performed the township’s 2007 revaluation and was the lone bidder for the proposed new reassessment. They mentioned inequities in value among similar homes in the same neighborhood as evidence of a faulty job.

Del Guercio said he was disappointed council “would use anecdotal incidents, which may or may not be true, to judge the last reassessment … To do it on a political platform is simply not appropriate, in my opinion.”

He said any number of mitigating factors could account for variances in assessments of properties “that appear to be similar.”

Del Guercio pointed to a statewide study—“Measures of Property Assessment Uniformity in New Jersey Taxing Districts”—which compares the results of revaluations to subsequent home sales. According to the CEO, the study found a high level of conformity between ASI’s assessments and the values reflected in home sales in the years after the revaluation.

“To maintain that level of uniformity and conformity in a town like Moorestown means we did the job correctly,” Del Guercio said.

Township financial officer Tom Merchel and tax assessor Dennis DeKlerk have said the volatile housing market—which crashed right after ASI finished the job—led to most of the problems, including the deluge of appeals.

Button stood by his comments Wednesday, but added, “There’s no inference that they’re not a good or credible company, only an inference that we had a bad experience.”

He, along with the rest of council, had hoped to bring ASI in for a meeting so the company could soothe their concerns before being hired for the job.

“I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want to do that,” Button said.

According to Del Guercio, his primary reason for pulling out was concern for his employees.

“You measure whether you want to subject your employees to a hostile environment … where they’re taking political cheap shots,” he said. “We don’t need it. We have a lot of work.”

ASI has faced resistance from members of the community in other towns where it’s performed reassessments, including Moorestown in 2007. Del Guercio said they “walked into a storm in the Lenola area … and we hadn’t even knocked on one door.”

But to a degree, that’s to be expected, he said, as are the subsequent appeals from property owners dissatisfied with their new assessments.

Though in most cases, he said, when ASI investigates an alleged error, it turns out the assessment was accurate.

Asked whether he might reconsider withdrawing the company’s bid, Del Guercio did not sound hopeful, but said, “Never say never.”

Button said the township still has every intention of performing the reassessment this year.

Despite the scarcity of available firms—due to high demand—township manager Scott Carew said Monday he was working on a Plan B if things didn’t work out with ASI.