Here's a riddle for you. How do you take ten thousand tax appeals and assign one person to handling it all? The answer? You don't!
At present, the seven-member Ocean County Board of Taxation only has one acting member, something Freeholder Director John Bartlett calls an "intolerable situation." He has sent two letters to Governor Jon Corzine to find out why both he and the state's Judiciary
Committee have failed to make the necessary appointments. Bartlett says this is totally avoidable if the Governor would act and appoint membership. He says "why this hasn't happened is beyond me. If the Board of Freeholders could fix it, if we could make the appointments, I can assure you it would be done. I can't apologize for this situation because I can't fix it. It's not within our juridisction."Right now, the board is literally crippled with piles and piles of tax appeals and complaints collecting dust in Downtown Toms River. Bartlett says "with only one member, the board is unable to make determinations in tax appeals." He adds "its absolutely impossible for one individual to handle all of the claims and contact the residents back."
At present, Governor Corzine has failed to respond to Freeholder Bartlett's inquiries. However, Bartlett did hear from State Senator Paul Sarlo from Bergen County who also received a mailing. Sarlo heads the state's Judiciary Committee. In an April 7th response, Sarlo told Bartlett he would investigate the matter and a special meeting would be convened April 27th to consider all pending tax board nominees across the state.
The one problem --- according to Sarlo, they have one other possible candidate. Bartlett says this is totally unacceptable and says "that's just one. If you appoint one more, there is still five missing!" He concludes by saying "it is a disgraceful situation - until the Governor moves and the State Senate moves, it will remain this way. All we can do, unfortunately, is to plead with the administration to get on with it."
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