"Do not apply the 2026 tax rate to your 2027 assessed value." That line comes from the letter Chatham Township's assessor mailed to every property owner. It sounds like routine fine print, but it matters for anyone buying in 07928 this fall. The annual tax figure printed on a Township listing is about to describe a system that no longer exists.
Tomorrow, October 1, 2026, is the valuation date for Chatham Township's first townwide revaluation in about two decades. Every home in the Township will be reassessed as of that date, and the new values take effect for the 2027 tax year. A buyer closing this autumn will pay one more year of bills under the old math and then get a fresh number for 2027.
The Assessment Under Today's Bill Dates to 2005
The Morris County Board of Taxation ordered the revaluation on December 21, 2023, and set a completion deadline of September 30, 2026. According to the Township's own materials, the last reassessment was done for the 2005 tax year, and current assessed values "do not reflect fair market value." At a March 24, 2026 Township Committee meeting, Mayor Rowland said the county ordered the revaluation because of the gap between assessed values and market value.
The equalization ratio measures that gap. It's the state's estimate of how close a town's assessments sit to market value. On the 2026 Morris County table, Chatham Township's ratio is 66.41%. The Township's 2025 letter cited 72.22%, so the gap grew in a single year. On average, a Township home is assessed at about two-thirds of what it would sell for.
That's only an average, though, and averages hide spread. The state's 2025 residential statistics show a $873,245 average assessment across the Township. The 154 Township homes that sold in 2025 averaged $1,564,184. Those two figures describe different groups of homes, so they can't be divided into a precise ratio. They do suggest that the homes changing hands sit well above the typical assessment. Over twenty years, some properties were expanded, some were rebuilt, and some stayed much as they were in 2005. A single ratio can't capture all of that, and correcting it is the point of a revaluation.
The Levy Stays the Same. The Shares Move.
The Township says plainly that the revaluation is revenue-neutral. "No additional taxes will be raised for the school district, municipal government, or county government as a result of the completed revaluation," the assessor's letter says. The total tax burden "will be redistributed" based on the revised assessments.
The arithmetic follows from that. Suppose every Township home rose in lockstep from about two-thirds of market value to full market value. The ratable base would grow by roughly half, the tax rate would drop in proportion, and every bill would stay the same. The Township expects that rate adjustment, and its letter notes that the 2027 rate "will be adjusted accordingly" because the overall base is expected to rise.
Homes never move in lockstep, and that's why bills change. A home whose value grew faster than the Township average since 2005 will take a larger share of the levy. A home that grew more slowly will take a smaller one. A large jump in a home's assessment tells you very little on its own.
Chatham Borough went through this in 2023, and it's the clearest local example. The Borough's revaluation added $975 million to its ratables, an increase of 45%. The local tax rate fell from .421 to .303, even though the amount raised through taxes rose 5%. TAPinto Chatham reported the details at the time. In the Borough's own worked example, a home assessed at $690,000 in 2022 was revalued 40% higher, to $966,000, and its total tax bill fell by $212.87. A 40% increase came in below the 45% average, so that home's share went down.
Borough administrator Steve Williams summed it up: "The pie got bigger, and everyone's slice is different." Chatham Township's pie hasn't been re-sliced since 2005.
No Township official has said which neighborhoods or property types are expected to gain or lose share. Any prediction about specific streets would be guesswork until the notices go out.
Why the Two Chathams' Tax Rates Can't Be Compared Directly
Buyers comparing the Borough and the Township usually start with the tax rates. The raw rates make the Township look much more expensive. The ratios tell a different story.
| Chatham Borough | Chatham Township | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 general tax rate per $100 assessed | $1.744 | $2.160, an estimate pending certification |
| 2026 equalization ratio | 83.67% | 66.41% |
| Rate multiplied by ratio | about 1.46 | about 1.43 |
| Last townwide revaluation in effect | 2023 tax bills | 2005 tax year |
| 2025 average residential tax bill | $16,960 | $18,373 |
The Township's 2026 figure comes from a June 23, 2026 resolution authorizing estimated billing, and the resolution says the levy hadn't yet been certified. Once each rate is adjusted for how close its town's assessments sit to market value, the two Chathams look nearly identical. That's a rough statistical comparison. The New Jersey Division of Taxation notes that this kind of effective rate is for comparing towns and must not be used to calculate an actual bill.
The comparison has a shelf life. The Borough's 83.67% ratio shows that its assessments have already drifted from market value in the three years since its revaluation. The Township's 2027 rate will be reset against a new base, and the assessor's letter says it won't be known until late summer 2027. For the next year, any side-by-side comparison of tax bills between the two Chathams will compare a recently reset system with one that's 21 years old and about to be replaced.
What a Buyer Can Actually Learn Before Closing
Buying the home won't change its assessment on its own terms. The Morris County Board of Taxation's guidance says a recent purchase price may be considered but doesn't by itself require a change, because assessments have to be applied uniformly. The revaluation is different. It sets values as of October 1, 2026, using comparable sales and the state's appraisal manual. Township sales from the run-up to that date are the material the new values are built on.
Here is the Township's published schedule, which it notes is tentative:
- October 1, 2026: the statutory valuation date for every property.
- By November 1, 2026: preliminary values established.
- After November 10, 2026: notices go out with each property's proposed 2027 assessment and instructions for scheduling a review.
- November and December 2026: informal meetings with the revaluation firm, followed by a letter with the result.
- December 31, 2026: final values established.
- January 10, 2027: final tax list filed with the Morris County Board of Taxation.
- May 1, 2027: appeal deadline.
At the September 8, 2026 Township Committee meeting, Township Administrator Shehady said the revaluation was on schedule. Data entry was expected to finish in early November, and the firm would be asked to give a public presentation on the data and next steps.
For a buyer under contract this fall, the proposed 2027 assessment is the first concrete figure available, and it won't exist until mid-November. Even then, the tax bill stays unknown until the 2027 rate is set the following summer. A buyer can estimate the home's new share of the levy, but nobody can quote the dollar amount yet.
Countywide, the market isn't giving buyers much time to wait for that number. In August 2026, Morris County single-family homes sold for a median of $843,750, received 104.8% of list price on average, and spent 24 days on market, with 2.2 months of supply, according to NJ REALTORS.
The Inspection Question Worth Asking the Seller
The firm doing the work is Appraisal Systems, Inc., under contract with the Township. Its inspectors measure and photograph each home's exterior and note the number of rooms and the interior condition. Owners can decline the interior inspection. In that case, the firm "will estimate the interior at its highest, most reasonable potential," which the Township warns can lead to overassessment. Mayor Rowland repeated that warning in March and again in April, when she reported that inspections were underway.
Administrator Shehady said in September that he didn't know of a specific deadline for homes not yet inspected, and that some owners might agree to an inspection after receiving their value letter. That makes it a reasonable question to ask during attorney review: was the home's interior inspected? Owners can check their place in the inspection queue on the Appraisal Systems Chatham Township page, and the Township assessor's page has the official updates. If a home's interior was never seen, its preliminary value may assume a better interior than it actually has. The informal review in November and December is the time to correct that.
None of this is tax or legal advice. Assessment questions should go to the Township assessor, Appraisal Systems, or your attorney. The practical takeaway for a buyer weighing a Chatham Township home this season is that its 2026 tax bill is a historical figure, and its proposed 2027 assessment, expected after November 10, is the first real clue to what comes next.
If you're considering a Chatham Township home this fall and want help reading its 2005-era assessment against what the revaluation may change, Kristina Baez can go through the numbers with you before you commit. Let's Connect.
