Tax appeal screening
Chapter 123 calculator
Most New Jersey homeowners who think they are over-assessed are applying the wrong test. This applies the right one, using the State's certified figures, before you spend anything.
Where do you land in the corridor?
Being worth less than your assessment is not, by itself, a case. New Jersey gives your town a corridor either side of its average ratio, and inside it the assessment stands however much you prove. This works out where you land, using the State's certified figures for 2026.
A screening calculation from published figures, the Director's Certification of Average Ratios and Common Level Ranges for Use in the Tax Year 2026, retrieved 2026-07-31. It is not an appraisal, it is not legal or tax advice, and it cannot tell you what your property is worth. The value you enter is your own estimate; everything downstream of it is arithmetic.
How the test works
A county tax board does not ask whether your house is worth less than its assessment. It asks where the ratio between the two falls.
Take your assessment, divide it by what the property is genuinely worth, and compare the result against your municipality's Common Level Range:
| Where the ratio falls | What the board does |
|---|---|
| Above the upper limit | Assessment reduced to true value × the average ratio |
| Within the range | No change, the appeal fails even though a lower value was proven |
| Below the lower limit | Assessment increased to true value × the average ratio |
That last row is not a technicality. An appeal can raise your taxes, and any guide that leaves it out is describing half the outcome.
Two exceptions. Where the average ratio itself exceeds 100%, the corridor does not apply and the assessment is reduced to true value. And in a revaluation or reassessment year, Chapter 123 does not apply at all.
The effective date is not today
New Jersey assesses as of October 1 of the pre-tax year. An appeal against a 2026 assessment needs an appraisal valued as of October 1, 2025.
An appraisal carrying today's date is a different instrument answering a different question, and boards routinely give it no weight. It is the most common way money gets wasted on a tax appeal.
Filing fees and deadlines
Fees are set by assessed value, not by county, under N.J.S.A. 54:3-21.3a: $5 under $150,000, $25 to $500,000, $100 to $1,000,000, and $150 above that.
The standard deadline is April 1, moving to May 1 where a revaluation or reassessment was implemented. Property assessed above $1,000,000 may be filed directly with the New Jersey Tax Court.
Where Chapter 123 does not apply this year
These municipalities implemented a revaluation or reassessment for 2026, so there is no corridor to test against. Assessments are presumed to sit at 100% of true value and the filing deadline moves to May 1.
- Cedar Grove Twp · Essex Revaluation
- Glen Ridge Twp · Essex Revaluation
- Verona Twp · Essex Revaluation
- Clinton Town · Hunterdon Reassessment
- Flemington Boro · Hunterdon Reassessment
- High Bridge Boro · Hunterdon Reassessment
- Kingwood Twp · Hunterdon Revaluation
- Lambertville City · Hunterdon Reassessment
- Milford Boro · Hunterdon Revaluation
- West Amwell Twp · Hunterdon Reassessment
- Dunellen Boro · Middlesex Revaluation
- Middlesex Boro · Middlesex Revaluation
- Piscataway Twp · Middlesex Revaluation
- Paterson City · Passaic Reassessment
- Bedminster Twp · Somerset Reassessment
- Bernards Twp · Somerset Reassessment
- Bernardsville Boro · Somerset Reassessment
- Bound Brook Boro · Somerset Reassessment
- Branchburg Twp · Somerset Reassessment
- Bridgewater Twp · Somerset Reassessment
- Far Hills Boro · Somerset Reassessment
- Franklin Twp · Somerset Reassessment
- Green Brook Twp · Somerset Reassessment
- Hillsborough Twp · Somerset Reassessment
- Manville Boro · Somerset Reassessment
- Millstone Boro · Somerset Reassessment
- Peapack Gladstone Boro · Somerset Reassessment
- Rocky Hill Boro · Somerset Reassessment
- Warren Twp · Somerset Reassessment
- Watchung Boro · Somerset Reassessment
Compiled from the county equalization tables, which several counties publish only as scanned images. Absence from this list is not confirmation that your municipality did not revalue, your assessment notice is the authority.
Certified average ratios, 2026
The average ratio and Common Level Range for all 298 municipalities in the counties served are published in full on the 2026 certified ratio table , grouped by county. Source: the Director's Certification of Average Ratios and Common Level Ranges for Use in the Tax Year 2026 , retrieved 2026-07-31.
FAQ
Questions about Chapter 123
What is the Chapter 123 ratio?
Each year the Director of the Division of Taxation publishes an average ratio for every New Jersey municipality, measuring how far assessments in that town have drifted from market value. A ratio of 74.02% means assessments there run at roughly 74% of true value. It is promulgated on October 1 of the pre-tax year and is the figure a county tax board applies to your appeal.
What is the Common Level Range?
The average ratio plus or minus 15%, 15% of the ratio, not 15 percentage points. For a ratio of 74.02%, the range runs from 62.92% to 85.12%. Divide your assessment by what the property is genuinely worth: above the upper limit and the assessment is reduced, inside the range nothing changes, below the lower limit and the board increases it.
Can a tax appeal actually raise my assessment?
Yes. If the evidence puts your assessment-to-value ratio below the lower limit of the Common Level Range, the county board is required to increase the assessment to true value multiplied by the average ratio. It is not a discretionary penalty and it is not rare in towns where assessments have fallen well behind the market. Screening before you file is the only way to know which side of the corridor you are on.
Why does my town show no ratio?
Because Chapter 123 does not apply there this year. In a year when a municipality implements a revaluation or reassessment, assessments are presumed to sit at 100% of true value, so there is no corridor to test against and the argument is about the value itself. The filing deadline also moves to May 1.
Is this an appraisal?
No. It is arithmetic on two numbers you supply and one the State publishes. The value you enter is your own estimate, and everything downstream of it follows from that estimate rather than from any analysis of your property. A county board will not accept it, and it is not legal or tax advice. What it can do is tell you whether commissioning an appraisal is worth your money this year.
How current are these ratios?
These are the certified figures for tax year 2026, originally promulgated October 1 of the pre-tax year and including amendments made by the New Jersey Tax Court. They were retrieved from the Division of Taxation on 2026-07-31. Ratios change every October, so confirm the vintage before relying on any published table, including this one.
Next step
Tell us the purpose and the deadline
Those two things determine the effective date, the fee, and the turnaround. If an appraisal is not the right instrument for what you need, you will hear that first.