The Hypocrisy of Monmouth County Republican State Senator Declan O'Scanlon

It's funny to see Monmouth County Republican State Senator Declan O'Scanlon pretend to care about fiscal responsibility, and transparency, when he was one of the Monmouth County cosponsors and is currently an avid defender of the Monmouth Assessment Demonstration Program which is a complete, and total failure, and only makes life more expensive for families in Monmouth. Because of the Monmouth ADP, properties are reassessed every single year to reflect true current market values, homeowners in rapidly appreciating neighborhoods frequently face unexpected, dramatic hikes in their property valuations. This translates directly into skyrocketing property tax bills overnight, sometimes increasing by 35% or more in a single year, without any changes or physical updates being made to the home.

Under the ADP, which Declan O'Scanlon strongly supports, every year is effectively a revaluation year. This means that if a homeowner spends the time and money to win a tax appeal, that reduced value is only guaranteed for that specific tax year. They often have to re-evaluate and potentially refight unfair assessments annually. The ADP altered the state’s standard tax calendar to resolve appeals before municipal budgets are finalized. This leaves homeowners with a tiny, high pressure window to challenge their assessments. Property owners typically receive their assessment postcards in mid-November and must file a formal appeal by January 15. This 60 day window runs directly through the busy winter holidays, leaving very little time to request property cards, gather comparable sales evidence, and file documentation.

In standard New Jersey counties, a mechanism known as the Chapter 123 common level range provides a 15% valuation cushion to protect taxpayers from minor market drift. In Monmouth County, because towns operate under the ADP, this protective range does not apply. To win an appeal, the burden of proof is heavily on the homeowner to clear a much narrower bar of evidence. Implementing annual reassessments requires continuous property data maintenance and frequent rolling inspections (inspecting roughly 20% of a town's properties internally every year). Towns have had to pay millions of dollars in private technology and appraisal contracts to manage this continuous infrastructure, passing those implementation costs right back to the taxpayers.

So if we want to talk about fiscal responsibility, why does Declan O'Scanlon support the Monmouth ADP, which strips away predictable multi-year tax stability for the individual homeowner, forces an annual cycle of tax defense, and subjects residents to volatile yearly shifts in their tax bills? The answer is because he's a hypocrite, and while we're on the topic of transparency why hasn't the Senator demanded answers, or called out the Monmouth County Republican Government for illegally raising their own wages by $3,000, including the salary of Monmouth County Republican Party Boss, and Sheriff Shaun Golden by $42,210, over a period of five years? The same County Party, and Government that illegally investigated their own county clerk, and current New Jersey Republican Chairwoman, Christine Hanlon.

Why hasn't the Senator demanded answers, for the Monmouth County Republican Government wasting nearly a million in taxpayer money, in an attempt to privately seize an airport? If he truly cares about fiscal responsibility, and transparency, why hasn't he demanded transparency from this corrupt Republican controlled Government here in Monmouth County? Because he does not care. He's a Political Partisan, a true hypocrite, and neither strong conservatives, independents, Democrats, nor anyone else believes a word he says, because he has failed to apply this same standard of demanding transparency to his own team. We need new leadership desperately not only in Monmouth County, but in New Jersey as well. We the people are tired of the constant lies, scapegoating, and inability to take responsibility for the failures in government. We demand more.