A statewide statistical measure for the taxing district. It is not a private appraisal of your house.
The core difference
One number is on the tax list. The other is a market question.
The New Jersey Division of Taxation describes true or market value as what a willing, knowledgeable buyer would pay a willing, knowledgeable seller in a bona fide open-market sale as of the statutory assessment date.
Your municipal assessment is the taxable value carried for the property. A town can have assessments that were established at a different point in the market cycle, so the published assessment-sales relationship matters.
Do not compare raw assessment numbers across towns. A $250,000 assessment in one municipality does not automatically mean the same thing as a $250,000 assessment somewhere else.
01 · Equalization
The ratio gives the assessment market context.
New Jersey's equalization work uses sales data to measure the relationship between assessments and true value.
Actual recorded sales help establish how assessed values compare with current market evidence.
Your home's condition, characteristics and truly comparable sales still matter when estimating market value.
The published common level range is part of New Jersey's assessment appeal framework. Use the current state table for the tax year in question.
02 · Tax impact
A lower assessment does not automatically mean a better tax position.
Property taxes are local. The assessment, general tax rate and the relationship between your property and the rest of the tax base all matter.
AssessmentThe taxable value assigned to the parcel.
General tax rateThe local rate used to compute the tax bill.
Market evidenceRecent credible sales help test whether the assessment is supported.
UniformityWatchdog also looks at whether assessment evidence is behaving consistently across comparable properties.
03 · Watchdog Intelligence
We keep the source fact separate from the derived signal.
The public assessment and state ratio are source facts. A Watchdog score or implied-value screen is a derived calculation and is labeled that way.
Official sources