Tax Burden Shifts ; Totowa Revaluation Hits Modest Homes Hard, Eases Levy at Higher End

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TOTOWA -- The well-off got better off this year, and the not-so- rich picked up the tab.

A state-mandated program designed to fix local property tax inequities cut tax bills this year on the most expensive homes in Totowa -- often by 10 percent or more -- while owners of more modest properties saw their levies rise upward of 25 percent. A majority of commercial property owners, meanwhile, also got tax breaks, with some getting double-digit reductions.

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Tax Burden Shifts ; Totowa Revaluation Hits Modest Homes Hard, Eases Levy at Higher End

The disparity that hit Totowa property owners when they received their 2009-10 tax bills resulted from a property revaluation -- an effort usually undertaken once every 10 to 15 years in communities across the state to update property assessments that local governments use to levy property taxes.

"That's why towns don't like to do a revaluation," said Mayor John Coiro, who is a ce...

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