Record Article from 1993: "Former Mayor Anthony Luna was not available for comment Friday."
LODI MAYOR ASSAILS EX-ASSESSOR
January 9, 1993 | CHRISTOPHER MUMMA, Record Staff Writer
CHRISTOPHER MUMMA, Record Staff
Writer
LODI -- In a four-year period, former tax assessor James Comeleo lopped $68 million from Lodi's tax rolls, including $21 million in June alone, when Comeleo knew he was out of a job, Mayor Philip V. Toronto said Friday.
Borough officials have wrapped up a five-month investigation that
cost $40,000 and began when Comeleo took home 1,362 tax-assessment cards as his term expired. Toronto said he believed the former assessor
"intentionally sabotaged the town's tax records."
Toronto said he didn't know why Comeleo lowered the tax assessments
of at least 2,000 of the borough's 5,000 properties, most without a
hearing in county court. The original assessments have been reinstated,
he said.
The mayor said he would like to meet with Comeleo before deciding
whether to pursue the matter with Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy. Toronto, who fired Comeleo in June, said he is particularly outraged that Comeleo lowered 530 assessments between May 27 and June 30, after he knew he was out of a job.
Many of the tax cards indicate the assessments were lowered because
of a judgment in county tax court, where the appeals are heard. But
Toronto said investigations by Borough Attorney Paul Barbire revealed
that the majority of these cases are pending.
"We want him to explain these discrepancies," Toronto said. "We
want to give him an opportunity to explain why he devalued the town by
$68 million with no apparent documentation or justification."
Comeleo said Friday that the answer to Toronto's question is a
simple one: The town's 1987 revaluation left the borough with 5,000
properties valued at about $1 billion -- but in today's bottomed-out
real estate market, the real value of borough properties is $800
million. And as tax appeals poured in at the rate of nearly 500 each
year since 1988, Comeleo said, his office was swamped with work.
"The prior administration said, `We know there is a problem with
the assessments. Do what you need to do,'"
Comeleo said. "All of my work left the numbers closer to the market
value than they had been."
Concerning the 530 assessments changed in his last month, Comeleo
said, "I had to catch up on paperwork in the last month, but those
assessments were being worked on for the past year."
Former Mayor Anthony Luna was not available for comment Friday. But Comeleo said the borough's unwillingness to fight commercial and
industrial tax appeals in court is proof that Lodi is drastically
overvalued.
"The town of Lodi has never even tried to defend a commercial or
industrial appeal," Comeleo said. "A commercial or industrial property
owner who doesn't appeal their assessment is out of their mind. And
quite frankly, every residential property owner in Lodi should file an
appeal, too."
LODI -- In a four-year period, former tax assessor James Comeleo lopped $68 million from Lodi's tax rolls, including $21 million in June alone, when Comeleo knew he was out of a job, Mayor Philip V. Toronto said Friday.
Borough officials have wrapped up a five-month investigation that
cost $40,000 and began when Comeleo took home 1,362 tax-assessment cards as his term expired. Toronto said he believed the former assessor
"intentionally sabotaged the town's tax records."
Toronto said he didn't know why Comeleo lowered the tax assessments
of at least 2,000 of the borough's 5,000 properties, most without a
hearing in county court. The original assessments have been reinstated,
he said.
The mayor said he would like to meet with Comeleo before deciding
whether to pursue the matter with Bergen County Prosecutor John J. Fahy. Toronto, who fired Comeleo in June, said he is particularly outraged that Comeleo lowered 530 assessments between May 27 and June 30, after he knew he was out of a job.
Many of the tax cards indicate the assessments were lowered because
of a judgment in county tax court, where the appeals are heard. But
Toronto said investigations by Borough Attorney Paul Barbire revealed
that the majority of these cases are pending.
"We want him to explain these discrepancies," Toronto said. "We
want to give him an opportunity to explain why he devalued the town by
$68 million with no apparent documentation or justification."
Comeleo said Friday that the answer to Toronto's question is a
simple one: The town's 1987 revaluation left the borough with 5,000
properties valued at about $1 billion -- but in today's bottomed-out
real estate market, the real value of borough properties is $800
million. And as tax appeals poured in at the rate of nearly 500 each
year since 1988, Comeleo said, his office was swamped with work.
"The prior administration said, `We know there is a problem with
the assessments. Do what you need to do,'"
Comeleo said. "All of my work left the numbers closer to the market
value than they had been."
Concerning the 530 assessments changed in his last month, Comeleo
said, "I had to catch up on paperwork in the last month, but those
assessments were being worked on for the past year."
Former Mayor Anthony Luna was not available for comment Friday. But Comeleo said the borough's unwillingness to fight commercial and
industrial tax appeals in court is proof that Lodi is drastically
overvalued.
"The town of Lodi has never even tried to defend a commercial or
industrial appeal," Comeleo said. "A commercial or industrial property
owner who doesn't appeal their assessment is out of their mind. And
quite frankly, every residential property owner in Lodi should file an
appeal, too."
