The city’s overall tax assessment was down almost 2 percent this year with vacant assessments jumping almost 38 percent.

The assessed value for the entire city in 2018 totaled $1,428,223,510, down 1.57 percent from $1,450,963,700 in 2017. The complete 2018 Union County Abstract of Ratables is available here.

Here’s a breakdown of the year-over-year change in 2017 and 2018 assessments by class, with vacant and residential properties the only categories seeing an increase year-over-year:

• Class 1 Vacant, $9.75 million to $13.44 million, +37.76 percent;
• Class 2 Residential, $966.65 million to $968.76 million, +0.22 percent;
• Class 4A Commercial, $130.209 million to $128.462 million, -1.33 percent;
• Class 4B Industrial, $272.104 million to $249.791 million, -8.2 percent; and,
• Class 4C Apartment, $72.236 million to $67.738 million, -6.23 percent.

It’s unclear what drove the $3.8-million increase in vacant assessments. Blue Acres acquisitions and demolition of flood-prone properties, which accounted for at least $2.5 million in assessments that formerly would have been categorized in Class 2 Residential, would likely be classified as Exempt rather than Vacant, according to Tax Assessor Tom Mancuso. Exempt valuations jumped from $373 million in 2017 to $450 million in 2018, including $219 million to $296 million within “Other Exempt Property.”

In addition to Blue Acres properties, there have been several other residential homes –including foreclosures on Essex Street and New Brunswick Avenue at least — that have been razed within the past year. As a percentage of the city’s total, vacant assessments are almost 1 percent for 2018. The $13.442 million in vacant assessments is the highest total since 2005 when it was $13.847 million.

“Vacant Land” is defined as “idle land, not actively used for agricultural or any other purpose; unused acreage; and land in an approved subdivision actively on the market for sale or being held for sale.” Blue Acres properties would be classified as Exempt 15C “public property” or 15F “other exempt,” since they’re now owned by the state and exempt from taxes.

Residential assessments have been running at about two-thirds of the city’s total assessment, and reached a recent high of 67.83 percent this year.

Here’s a spreadsheet I put together for a year-by-year breakdown of major categories dating back to 2005, along with 1-, 5- and 10-year changes relative to 2018. Year-over-year changes can be pretty subtle but over the longer-term is where more drastic changes and trends can be seen.

5-year trends

Total assessment of Class 4C Apartment is up 23 percent compared to five years ago (2013), likely due to recent completions of the 108-unit Meridia Water’s Edge and 116-unit Metro Rahway, among others. Class 4B Industrial also saw a big swing, down almost 16 percent since 2013.

10-year trends

Not surprisingly, Class 4C Apartment had the largest jump in assessment compared with 10 years ago (2008) at more than 34 percent. That takes into account most of the newest developments downtown, including the 159-unit Park Square, 222-unit Carriage City Plaza and accompanying hotel, as well as projects outside of redevelopment areas, such as Brookside at Rahway on St. Georges Avenue.

A rather amazing number is the overall assessment for Class 4B Industrial, which is almost half of what it was just 10 years ago, down 49.36 percent. The $249,791,200 assessment is the lowest level, by far, over 2005-2018. The drop of 8.2 percent over the past year is the lowest decline for Class 4B Industrial compared with the 5-year change of -15.95 percent and the 10-year change of almost 50 percent.