Tax assessor faces two-week suspension Heck faces penalty for missed reval filing deadline BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN - The township's tax assessor could face a suspension of 15 working days without pay for failing to submit the municipality's 2008 revaluation data on time, according to Monmouth County Tax Administrator Matthew Clark. After three months of hearings, Middletown Tax Assessor Charles Heck and the municipality are awaiting word about when he would begin serving his suspension, according to Clark. The state Attorney General's Office is currently working on a disciplinary agreement for Heck that the tax board and the assessor would agree to and that the state Division of Taxation, which has the authority to impose the penalties, would approve, Clark said. Heck's suspension could begin on July 1 if a decision is made within the next few weeks, according to Clark. The Attorney General's Office requested that the hearing be private, Clark said. Officials were legally permitted to bar the public from attending theApril 9 hearing because it was considered part of an investigation into the potential violation of state law. Clark said that although he did not have a say in the decision, he felt that the 15-day suspension is appropriate. Middletown's last reassessment was carried out in 1991; its previous revaluation was in 1982, according to Township Attorney Bernard Reilly. Reilly said that since the township did not have representation at the April 9 meeting and since the decision is still not final, the township does not have a comment on the matter at this time. "We weren't invited to the last meeting, since it was a closed session," Reilly said. "It was not a final action or decision, and until it's made final, we don't have an opinion on any decision at this time." As part of the meeting in February, the county commissioners instructed Clark to investigate the matter further and report his findings, along with recommendations, at their next meeting on March 10. Among the reasons given at the February Township Committee meeting for the delay in submitting revaluation data, according to Reilly, was the fact that the township is very large, with more than 25,000 taxable properties/line items, meaning it would take a longer time for a revaluation to be carried out than in most municipalities. He also listed difficulties in getting appropriate sales data in the "unique state market" as a factor in the delay. The township's tax base growth has been steady, with a 2006 assessed value of all taxable property at $4.9 billion, representing a 2 percent increase since 2003. Clark said that he could not recall an instance in the past 16 years where a municipality appeared to be positioned to comply with a stated order and had chosen not to submit the revised assessments.