Brigantine Taxman Hits Hard & Heavy

Dan Weinles just received his tax bill. 14% increase. His tax increase last year was about 6%. Over the past two years, Dan’s tax bill went up by more than 20%. Mr. Weinles says: ‘I think it is only fair that the City of Brigantine release summary data on the valuations of properties that saw tax increases vs. those that saw decreases’.

Dan continues: “My property is small and probably falls into the bottom 10% of of property values in Brigantine and I saw a 20%+ increase in taxes over the last two years”. Dan also wonders: “could this be a ploy to cheapen property values so more middle income houses go on the market for less and less money? Investors then scoop them up for bargain basement prices. Knock then down. Build new multi-million dollar sand castles in their place?”

Bloated City Hall employment rolls, 6 figure salaries, and benefits that you and I can only dream of. Taxpayers will need to dig deeper to cover these plum gigs typically reserved for those with ‘insider status’. 

Other Brigantine Taxpayer Comments:

Walter Klodnicki: Dream on- ocean block owners have been getting raped for years. My taxes went up over 10% a year for 3 years in a climate of decreasing valuation. All to support the infra structure of corruption and excessive benefits. Why are the taxes in Brigantine 33% more than Stone harbor or Avalon? They seem like nice communities to me. Ex- home owner

Carol Murray Cei: Too many people on the employment rolls. This town is becoming less and less of a year round place to live. With the casino collapse that will continue even more. Start cutting expenses now or no one will want to purchase anything on this island. Taxes that are too high drive people away to other towns

Jim Dougherty: I also saw my tax bill today, and a whopping 10% increase. By the way, I know an owner of a mega-house and they aren’t getting any tax breaks either. We should be able to go to a town or county web site and see assessement values and taxes charged

Eric T Austin: 39% increase over last years tax bill. Assessment was virtually identical to previous (262k in 2013, now 269k)

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15 thoughts on “Brigantine Taxman Hits Hard & Heavy”

  1. The old regimes actions have this town in financial ruins by the contracts they have signed over past decade.

    You can’t blame the employees that past city managers gave away the house so to speak.

    Taxes will continue to be an issue until senior employees retire and new lower paid help comes on the payroll as new employees. In the real world, companies would now offer buyouts to speed up this process.

  2. My taxes went up again this year. We can’t even sell if we wanted to. The house: it’s not even worth what we paid for it 10 yrs ago.

    If I had done my homework before we bought this place, I would have never bought here.

    In Delaware when u retire, your taxes are cut in half. What a big mistake I made with this place.

  3. What is it with the assessment company? Just drive by my house and say it went up in valuation when nothing changed. And how could taxes go up 37% in one year. That is usury. My valuation only went up 19,000 but again taxes went up 37%. Us seniors are being forced out of town. Somehow we have to take a stand against the assessment company and start a class action suit against them and also question Brigantine auditor for his approval of the assessments. Any one interested in tis should let it be known

    1. i would like to sign a petition against Vital Communications. Who selected them and what are
      their credentials for doing a re-evalutaion?

      amelia ranieri

    2. MY ASSESSMENT WENT UP 24% FROM 2013.
      MY COMBINE TAX AND MILAGE INCREASE IS UP 54.5%.
      MY TAX BILL IS UP 58% FROM 2013.
      I JUST ATTENDED AN APPEAL HEARING ON MY ASSESSMENT IN WHICH THE VITAL COMMUNICATION PERSON IN ATTENDENCE SIMPLY LIED TO DISALLOW COMPARABLE SALES I PRESENTED AND LOW BALLED VALUES. PROPERTY DETAIL DISCRIPTION SHEETS ARE NOT CORRECT FOR COMPS AS WELL AS MY HOME.
      I AM A SENIOR CITIZEN ALSO.
      I WOULD JOIN IN A CLASS ACTION SUIT

      1. I WOULD ALSO JOIN IN A CLASS ACTION SUIT WHICH SHOULD ALSO INCLUDE THE CITY AUDITOR. I DID APPEAL OUR ASSESSMENT, WITH THE INCORRECT DESCRIPTION OF OUR PROPERTY, IT WAS REDUCED ONLY TO FIND IT WENT BACK UP TO THE PRE-ASSESSMENT TAX TOTAL. IS IT TIME TO LAY-OFF SOME OF THE EMPLOYEES? SINCE 60% OF THE BUDGET IS SALARY & BENEFITS. DO WE REALLY NEED ALL THE STAFF IN CITY HALL? WHY DO WE NEED A NEW FIRE TRUCK? JUST SOME EXPENDITURES THAT WE COULD PROBABLY DO WITHOUT THAT WOULD REDUCE THE TAXPAYERS COSTS. OR MAYBE ITS JUST POLITICS, MAYBE?

  4. Long Time Part Timer

    I have heard that full timers were given a $10,000.00 reward earlier this year to agree to stay on the island for 3 more years. If this is true, I guess they can use that to pay their tax bill. I guess us non-important shoobies get stuck with the bill again.

    1. Just want to correct misinformation about the $10,000 grants. As a member of BrigStrong, the long term recovery group, I feel qualified to clear up the misunderstanding. It was stated that the monies were given to keep people from leaving Brigantine.

      Nothing could be farther from the truth. A Superstorm Sandy victim has to promise not to leave Atlantic County for 3 years as one of the stipulations for eligibility. They absolutely can leave Brigantine. The monies came from federal funds given to each impacted state. The City of Brigantine had nothing to do with the disbursement of these grants.

      Hope that clarifies it.

      Gloria Jacoby

  5. No rhyme or reason to these real estate taxes. My home went up $2000.00. I know some homes that are larger than mine and their taxes are only $800.00 more than mine. I don’t mind paying my fair share but, it just doesn’t make any sense as to how the people in charge came to these evaluation. VERY VERY POOR CALCULATIONS. I’M SURE THERE WILL BE MANY APPEALS COMING.

  6. Long Time Part Timer

    Can anyone explain to me how taxes have gone up each year even though just about all the vacant lots and a lot of bungalows have been replaced by McMansions? I would think the additional taxes being paid by these McMansions would make up for tax increases unless there is a spend-mentality in charge.

  7. Friends,

    Finally got my Brig tax bill…

    A couple interesting facts:

    – Brigantine and Avalon have approximate the exact same amount of developed land–4.2 sq miles. The total value of Avalon’s 4.2 sq miles is $7.3 billion. The total value of Brig’s 4.2 sq miles is $3.2 billion. This means that Avalon is worth 2.3x the value of Brigantine. This is despite 3 assets that the Brig possesses that Avalon does not:
    – 45 min closer to to both Phila and NYC
    – much nicer beaches
    – a large state park on the island.

    The $3.8 billion difference is not due to any “natural advantage” Avalon has, but rather because of the gross incompetence, nepotism and mismanagement of this town.

    The Brig’s “powers-that-be” objective is NOT to improve the island, NOT to improve the town or increase property values for homeowners, but rather, their SOLE goal is lifetime employment, perpetual income, job security and FAT pensions for themselves, their family and friends at the expense of the 72% of homeowners who have no say (vote) in how their tax dollars are spent and how the town is run.

    – comparable tax rates (per $100 of assessed value):
    – Brig: $1.707 (local*-$.711)
    – OC: $.883 (local*-$.401)
    – Avalon: $.535 (local*-$.250)
    – Stone Harbor: $.518 (local*-$.232)

    The “local” portion (Brig–$.711) is what the town charges (and keeps). The balance is charged (and goes to) by the county.

    Brigantine’s “local” tax rate of $.711 exceeds both Avalon’s and Stone Harbor’s TOTAL tax rates by .18 and .20 respectively and is only .17 less than OCNJ’s TOTAL tax rate.

    Homeowners in Avalon pay approximately 50%-60% in property taxes of what we homeowners in Brig pay.

    Brigantine’s “local tax rate” is 1.78x , 2.85x and 3.1x higher than OC’s, Avalon’s and Stone Harbor’s “local tax rates”, respectively.

    For what ???

    The public area of this town (beach paths, roads, medians, alleys, street signs, curbs, street lights, sidewalks, no landscaping, beaches seldom raked, mowed grass in public areas not swept or blown, just left in streets and on sidewalks, grass growing thru sidewalks and streets, potholes everywhere, tennis courts and basketball courts in complete disrepair, etc, etc, etc) are a disgrace and a complete embarrassment (and in some cases, a lawsuit-waiting-to-happen)..

    Relative to these other beach communities, the public areas of Brigantine are a dump, and the politics, a rotten cesspool.

    I strongly encourage all of you to take a ride 30 miles south, and see what Stone Harbor and Avalon are doing on .23 and .25 (per $100), that the folks in Brigantine can not come close to accomplishing on 3xs (.711) the amount of money.

    You will be outraged

    There needs to be a tax-payer revolt by the folks who pay 72% of the taxes around here, but have NO say how OUR money is spent.

    There needs to be a MAJOR house-cleaning done around here. The nepotism and obscenely bloated budget must end.

    M

    Sent by “The Merchant of Menace”

  8. M – You could not be more correct. Our public services are an embarrassment. Look around at the public facilities of all other South Jersey beach towns – we come in second to last – only out preforming Atlantic City – sad state of affairs.
    How can our public elected officials look each tax payer in the eye?
    If the 2014 Brigantine Beach community was my legacy, I would hang my head in shame.

    The Green Market was a wonderful addition – we need much more of the same to continue to grow in these economic times. Money is brought into the community, not on the taxpayers back, but by tourism – as it should be!

  9. I just received tax bill and the tax bill increase was 80%. I contacted Vital and was told there was nothing that could be done as they completed the assessment and did not know the tax rate would increase 40%. I challenged my assessment in January and provided comparable sales and Vital lowered from the original assessment, however, the increased assessment plus the 40% tax rate increase resulted in an 80% tax increase. This is not acceptable, as if I were to sell I would have to accept a 40% loss from the price I paid in 2008. I am very disappointed.

  10. Assessment went down from 232,000 to 188,000. My taxes went up roughly 15%. I pay more taxes now than when my property was worth $50,000 more. What the hell is going on?
    Maybe the assessment company used the new “Common Core” math method to figure this out, because I can”t.

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