Taxpayer revolt brewing in Elberon
Group collects funds, mulls recall of mayor, council
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

A grassroots taxpayer protest is being planned by a group of residents of the Elberon section of Long Branch in the wake of a recent citywide reassessment that doubled, and in many cases tripled, property values in their neighborhoods.

A committee led by Lincoln Avenue resident Morris Mizrahi is discussing several courses of action to challenge the "skyrocketed" property values, including a recall of the current administration or a class action lawsuit.

"We are the goose that lays the golden eggs for Long Branch," said Mizrahi in an interview last week. "The amount that we pay in taxes, as to what we get back [from the city], is minimal.

"Our children don't go to the schools, there are no fires, there are no drug-filled parties," he said, adding, "They pick up our trash."

Residents of Elberon say they have been carrying the financial burden of the city for years, according to Mizrahi, who said the reassessments are the "last straw to break the camel's back."

"We will do whatever we have to do to be fairly represented," Mizrahi said. "We want to find a suitable course of action that will benefit the community and give us the relief."

To date, the group has received over $70,000 in pledges from Elberon residents to support whatever course of action is decided upon.

"The $70,000 is a small number as to what we anticipate for the war chest," Mizrahi said.

In addition to exploring taking legal action or instigating a recall of the current administration, other options include secession or forming a political action committee, according to Mizrahi.

"[Elberon] is a group of people who would rather live quietly, but when you see your property taxes triple, you have to do something," Mizrahi said. "We are looking at a number of options. We are not limited by any means."

One of the ultimate goals the group would like to accomplish is to have another reassessment conducted in the city, according to Mizrahi.

"But that is not a long-term solution," he said, adding, "I am not ready to say what I think the solution is."

Elberon resident Bill Schatzow said his Elberon Avenue home was originally valued at $559,000 and after the reassessment jumped to $1,482,400.

"We are trying to find out what can be done," Schatzow, a member of the committee, said.

Schatzow, who is a practicing engineer, said he has been collecting and managing data for the committee, including compiling a list of all reassessments conducted in Elberon.

He explained that the reassessments were conducted by applying a formula based on different codes attached to each section of the city.

"Every house in Long Branch has a code attached to it and each code is assigned different [comparable] sales to it," Schatzow said. "When you use a formula, you can make up any solution you want."

Schatzow also explained that another problem he has with the reassessment is that other areas of Long Branch, such as the Broadway Arts district, did not see the drastic increases in values as Elberon did.

"The art district of Broadway is being developed," he said. "The values weren't raised, they were lowered.

"You're supposed to be anticipating the growth," he said. "They did not treat this fairly.

"Are we trying to make it easier for the reassessor to build a town or are we trying to make it fair for the residents?" Schatzow asked.

Other assessments in the Elberon section of the city he cited include a home on S. Elberon Square, which had its value go from $1,308,600 to $3,879,200 and a home on Leslie Court which went from $388,100 to $1,133,900.

According to Schatzow, an example of how the formula is not accurate is the assessment of Mayor Adam Schneider's Lincoln Gardens home.

The value of Schneider's home went from $584,000 to $1,321,000 after the reassessment, according to Schatzow.

"There are different formulas, that is how the value of the mayor's house came up less than my house, because I have more property than he does," Schatzow said.

"What doesn't make sense to me though, is that his house was worth more than mine before the reassessment," he said, adding, "I did not get any work on my house done."

Another resident and president of the Elberon Voters and Property Owners Association, Leila Poch, said she is outraged about the reassessment of her Ocean Avenue home.

The value of Poch's property went from $569,500 up to $1,597,600, she said.

"I am in a neighborhood where the lots are undersized," Poch explained, "and you can't build on them if you wanted to.

"I know the city was ordered [to carry out] a reassessment, but these are off the wall," she said. "There just seem to be discrepancies. And they just sped by the homes to determine these values. They did not come inside my home."

Several Elberon residents have filed appeals, including Mizrahi, Schatzow and Poch, but appealing the values is not enough, according to Schatzow.

"[The council] doesn't listen at all to what residents want," Schatzow said. "They don't listen to people. Maybe they have been in office for too long.

"What else can be done?" he asked.

pull quote: "We are the goose that lays the golden eggs for Long Branch. The amount that we pay in taxes, as to what we get back, is minimal." Morris Mizrahi, Elberon