Midsummer Issue 2023

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Hopatcong Adds Revenue to Tax Book 18 Story by MICHAEL DAIGLE Every town has them. A collection of undersized lots, vacant land, foreclosed homes—parcels on a municipal mosaic that can become a drag on a town’s finances if they can’t be brought back to life. Ronald Tappan was Hopatcong’s administrator five years ago when the mayor and borough council chose to act on the number of unproductive, vacant properties in the borough. “We started a real estate committee to examine the problem,” said Tappan, who, since 2022, has been Sussex County’s administrator. And what a problem. “We had 700 vacant properties on paper,” said Borough Council member Brad Hoferkamp, a member of the real estate committee. That list included borough-owned paper streets (roads that were never developed), non-conforming lots generally less than 1,500 square feet and foreclosed homes. The vacant lots represented 12 percent of the borough’s 6,154 properties. What to do? In essence, the borough became a property flipper. Mayor Michael Francis said the borough found creative ways to return vacant property to the tax rolls. For example, homeowners flanking nonconforming lots, or paper streets, were encouraged to buy the smaller, non-buildable lots from the borough at a discount. In other cases, non-conforming lots were combined to create a conforming lot—15,000 square feet or larger—which was then sold. In one instance, Tappan said, the borough was able to combine two non-conforming lots, one with a lake view, into a hillside property. The lake view resulted in the property selling for considerably more than it might have otherwise. Or, Francis said, the borough executed what he called an “end-run foreclosure.” In those cases, borough officials offered to the buy the foreclosed home before the homeowner entered into a court-ordered sheriff’s sale, the usual process. Francis said the borough, once it had acquired a lot or a home, sold non-conforming properties at 25 percent of the appraised value. Conforming properties were sold at 50 percent of the appraisal, he said. Tappan said the process was “spending quarters to make dollars,” because the borough added millions of dollars to its total assessed property value. Lorraine Rossetti, the borough chief financial officer and deputy administrator, said, “In the LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Midsummer 2023 past five years we have auctioned 49 properties that the borough owned. Those sales brought in $483,000 in revenue, but more important, it put $1.2 million in property value back onto the tax rolls.” The properties added $40,000 a year to the borough’s tax collection, she said, for a fiveyear total of $200,000. “That might not seem like a big difference, but before resell, those properties were not contributing to the budget,” Rossetti said. This is “recovered funding” that is added annually to the budget and “means we don’t have to ask taxpayers to contribute additional funds,” she said. “In the past five years we have auctioned 49 properties that the borough owned. Those sales brought in $483,000 in revenue, but more important, it put $1.2 million in property value back onto the tax rolls.” — Lorraine Rossetti, Hopatcong Borough chief financial officer and deputy administrator Tappan pointed out that adding vacant properties back to the tax rolls increases the percentage of tax-paying properties in the borough. A small increase in that percentage means added tax dollars collected, he said. “A good day is when the borough adds a vacant property to the tax rolls that is also on water and sewer lines,” he said. “Not only do we collect new taxes but a water fee and a sewer fee.” The impact of this process is seen in the annual tax rate, which has been flat for the past five years, Francis said. Records show that the borough’s municipal tax rate in 2018 and 2019 was 94.1 cents per $100. The municipal tax was $2,014 on a home assessed at the borough average of $214,256. In 2020, the municipal tax rate was 94 cents per $100, and in 2021, 94.1 cents per $100. The average assessment in 2022 jumped a bit to $216,091, and municipal taxes rose to $2,031 while the tax rate was 94.2 cents per $100. In 2023, the tax rate is 94.2 cents per $100. The average assessment rose this year to $250,000, and as a result the municipal taxes rose to $2,199. None of these tax totals include school or county taxes. The home buying process and its impact on the borough’s taxes is one reason Hopatcong was named as the eighth most affordable municipality in New Jersey last year and the most affordable town in Sussex County, Francis said. When ranking municipalities, financial technology website SmartAsset analyzed several factors, including taxes, homeowners’ insurance and home costs relative to the local median income. Using data from the 2020 Census, the SmartAsset survey determined that Hopatcong had the following results: Closing costs, $3,214; property taxes, $6,840; home insurance, $916; annual mortgage payments, $13,129; median income, $97,679. The statewide results from that survey were: Closing costs, $3,650; property taxes, $7,865; homeowners insurance, $1,229; annual mortgage payments, $17,623; median income, $85,789. Hoferkamp said the home buying program is important to Hopatcong for reasons other than the tax dollars added to the budget. Removing a vacant property by selling it to a new homeowner adds to the appearance and value of the neighborhood, he said. The other reason is even more direct, he said: Much of the borough cannot be developed by law or because the land has been preserved. At 10.89 square miles (7,953 acres), the borough is bordered by Lake Hopatcong and highlands with steep slopes that discourage development. Beginning in 1995, the borough preserved over 450 acres of wooded highlands. Private owners, Sussex County and the state of New Jersey have also preserved hundreds of acres. Hopatcong, like Jefferson across the lake, was deemed by the rules defined in the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act to have considerable acreage in the preservation area. Jefferson has over 12,000 acres of preserved land, much of it hillsides. Hopatcong has 2,615 acres in the preservation area, where development is sharply discouraged, and 5,333 acres in the planning HOPATCONG TAX RATE PER $100 94.1 (cents) 94.1 (cents) 94 (cents) 94.1 (cents) 94.2 (cents) 94.2 (cents) 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
area, where some development is allowed. Hoferkamp said the borough has worked with the Highlands Council to create projects to promote development in some areas, such as River Styx. Hampering land use changes that could increase land values in the rest of the borough are historic choices, he said. Hudson Maxim, the famous inventor and lake area investor, mapped out many 50-by- 100-foot house lots, Hoferkamp said, which are considered small lots. Then there was a promotional program offered in the 1930s and described in the borough’s 2011 open space plan: “Originally given as prizes to subscribers of the nowdefunct Newark Evening News newspaper and to attendees of a Brooklyn movie theater, over 1,400 parcels under 0.1 acre in size were scattered about the Wolf’s Head section of the Borough.” The paper trail for ownership wasn’t particularly good and many of the lots were never claimed by the prize winners, said Francis. The land went back to the borough through a concerted effort by borough officials. The objective, said Francis, was to turn these tiny little lots into something useful. Most were eventually attached to the natural area preserve in that area of the borough. “We have to take care of the land we have,” Hoferkamp said. For Francis, this property buying plan is a way to clean up unproductive parcels in the borough and to take advantage of an economic impact that is part of life: foreclosures. The property data firm ATTOM reported in 2022 that between 16,000 and 17,000 New Jersey houses fell into foreclosure, or one of every 2,022 homes. Whereas Jefferson in 2022 declared its preserved land as “green assets” as the township added a planned trail system to its economic outlook, Hopatcong has invested in the property buying process, which has increased its tax base and tax collection by using what is in front of it. “This is sustainable,” Francis said. TIRED OF POOR SERVICE OR Septic Pumping • Drain Cleaning •Septic Repairs NOT Sewer GETTING & Water Lines A CALL • Septic BACK? Design Septic Installations • Grease Pumping Call Wilson Services. Talk with a real person who can help with all of your septic, sewer, 973-383-2112 water, or electrical service needs. 973-383-2112 NJ Lic # 13VH4508600 Septic WilsonServices.com $ 25 $ 50 Electrical Service* Pumping* * Only valid with work performed. Must be Any *Only valid with work performed, invoice of $250 LUXE LIFE B Y K A R E N F O L E Y Thinking of Selling? LOOK NO FURTHER SOLD SOLD SOLD 33 King Rd. Landing $1,528,000 19 McGregor Ave. Mt. Arlington $1,450,000 Karen Foley, REALTOR ® Sales Associate c.973.906.5021 karen.foley@sothebysrealty.com luxelifeagent.com NJ REALTORS® 2022 Bronze Circle of Excellence Sales Award 2021 Silver Circle of Excellence Sales Award 2022 NJ Realtor Good Neighbor Award 18 Lantz Rd. Lafayette $1,149,000 SOLD SOLD SOLD 255 Lakeside Blvd. Hopatcong $999,000 205 Bear Creek Rd. Allamuchy $630,000 (Sold fast, above ask, multiple offers) 40 Lakeshore Dr. Mt. Arlington $648,000 43 Tarn Dr. Parsippany $549,000 (Sold fast, above ask, multiple offers) 25 Bertrand Isl. Road Mt. Arlington $599,900 SOLD SOLD SOLD 14 Hillard Rd. Mt. Arlington $429,000 (Sold fast, above ask, multiple offers) Prominent Properties • Sotheby’s International Realty 670 Main Road • Towaco, NJ 07082 • Office 973.335.5700 • prominentproperties.com Each office is independently owned and operated. lakehopatcongnews.com 19
Page 1 and 2: INFORMING, SERVING AND CELEBRATING
Page 4 and 5: From the Editor While Marty Kane gi
Page 6 and 7: SUMMER CLEANING • MULTI SERVICE D
Page 8 and 9: Hundreds Take Part in a Salute to B
Page 10 and 11: THERE’S MORE FUN BELOW DECK SUMME
Page 12 and 13: Suit and Mai Tai Sets Sail with Fam
Page 14 and 15: KathySellsLakeHomes.com Top Produce
Page 16 and 17: THANK YOU! TO ALL 2023 LHYC FIREWOR
Page 20 and 21: New Program Offers Peace of Mind fo
Page 22 and 23: Residents Help Preserve Monarch B S
Page 24 and 25: Become a part of the lake’s histo
Page 26 and 27: Georgia PD Looking For a Few Good M
Page 28 and 29: Seniors of the Year Chosen in Hopat
Page 30 and 31: Hundreds Get Front Row Seats for An
Page 32 and 33: 2023 JERSEY WAKEOFF AUGUST 12, 2023
Page 34 and 35: 34 HISTORY During the first decades
Page 36 and 37: COOKING WITH SCRATCH © Tasting Hom
Page 38 and 39: WORDS OF A FEATHER Story and photos
Page 40 and 41: Lake Hopatcong... A fine food and f
Page 42 and 43: directory CONSTRUCTION/ EXCAVATION

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