City Council approved tax refunds for two more commercial properties that won tax judgments for 2012 and 2013. The governing body approved AR-112-14 at its regular meeting May 12.

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The building that houses Rahway Animal Hospital at 175 W. Grand Ave., (Block 224, Lot 52) was approved for a credit of nearly $15,000 for the two years ($7,552 for 2012 and $7,347 for 2013).  The tax assessment on the 60-year-old building and half-acre parcel was reduced from $353,400 to $231,900, which would generate a property tax bill of $21,370.

A commercial property at 221 Westcott Drive (Block 277, Lot 7) will get a credit of more than $8,000 for two tax years ($4,760 for 2012 and $3,247 for 2013). The overall assessment dropped from $350,000 to $309,200 for 2014, generating a tax bill of $21,164.50.

City Council in recent months has approved a number of judgements for the 2012 tax year, totaling almost $30,000 in credits, including: 1501 Main St., $2,506 reduction for 2012, approved in March; 1697 Elizabeth Ave., $8,853 reduction for 2012, approved in February, and STS Tire and Auto Center on St. Georges Avenue, $16,705 for 2012, approved in November.

That’s on top of multi-year tax appeals by a St. Georges Avenue shopping center that resulted in an $188,000 refund (almost $18,000 for 2012), and Rahway Office Center, home to the library, which won a reduction of $105,000 over four years (including almost $28,000 in 2012). For the 2012 year alone, those approved judgements total more than $75,000 in tax revenue.

Nearly 120 properties also had successful appeals at the county level last year, resulting in some $182,000 in refunds for the 2013 tax year, which City Council approved in November.

The administration attributed about $12 of the average $43 municipal tax increase within the 2014 budget to the loss in tax ratables.