Anthony Licciardello | April 24, 2026
Union County
The Union County NJ property tax revaluation picture is not subtle. Of 21 municipalities, 19 sit below New Jersey's 85% compliance threshold on the Director's Ratio — and more than half of those sit below 35%. Union Township's Director's Ratio, certified by the NJ Division of Taxation and amended by the NJ Tax Court on January 30, 2026, stands at 8.89%. Scotch Plains Township sits at 15.65%. These are not normal ratio-drift numbers. They are numbers that describe a county where the majority of municipal assessment rolls have fallen fundamentally out of alignment with market reality.
This post maps the full Union County ratio landscape using the 2026 Chapter 123 certification, identifies where the largest assessment-to-market gaps sit, explains what the data means for anyone buying or selling Union County property in 2026 or 2027, and flags which municipalities appear most structurally overdue for reval orders.
Under New Jersey law, every taxable property must be assessed at 100% of fair market value. The NJ Division of Taxation publishes a Director's Ratio for every one of the state's 565 municipalities annually — the average relationship between assessed values and actual sale prices across the town. A ratio below 85% indicates non-compliance with the state standard.
Of the 21 municipalities in Union County, only two are above the 85% compliance line: Winfield Township (100.10%) and Elizabeth City (92.76%). Springfield Township sits close to the threshold at 82.53%, and Clark Township at 80.01%. Every other Union County municipality — 19 of 21, or roughly 90% of the county's taxable base by municipality count — sits below the threshold.
What makes Union County structurally different from Ocean County's story is the severity of the drift. Ocean County's lowest ratio was 53.03% (Seaside Heights). Union County has twelve municipalities below 35% and five below 25%. Union Township at 8.89% is a statistical outlier even among non-compliant NJ towns — the state's equalization math implies market values roughly eleven times higher than the assessment roll carries. Scotch Plains at 15.65% is similarly extreme. These are not towns where the ratio drifted gradually over a decade. These are towns where assessment rolls were last set in a fundamentally different real estate market.
A Director's Ratio below 85% does not automatically trigger a reval. The Union County Board of Taxation weighs the ratio alongside the coefficient of deviation — a separate measure of how uniform assessments are within the town. When both numbers drift too far, the order comes. New Providence has already completed its reval cycle for 2026. Other Union County municipalities are positioned to follow, and the data suggests several are long overdue.
The following table shows every Union County municipality ranked by Director's Ratio, from highest (closest to compliance) to lowest (furthest from market value). These figures were originally certified by the NJ Division of Taxation on October 1, 2025 and amended by the NJ Tax Court on January 30, 2026. They apply to 2026 tax appeals.
| Rank | Municipality | Ratio | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Winfield Township | 100.10% | Compliant |
| 2 | Elizabeth City | 92.76% | Compliant |
| 3 | Springfield Township | 82.53% | Borderline |
| 4 | Clark Township | 80.01% | Below Compliance |
| 5 | Garwood Borough | 72.59% | Below Compliance |
| 6 | Westfield Town | 72.48% | Below Compliance |
| 7 | Mountainside Borough | 71.29% | Below Compliance |
| 8 | Fanwood Borough | 65.63% | Below Compliance |
| 9 | Roselle Park Borough | 51.87% | Below Compliance |
| 10 | Berkeley Heights Township | 35.73% | Below Compliance |
| 11 | New Providence Borough (reval 2026) | 34.32% | Reval 2026 |
| 12 | Summit City | 30.81% | Below Compliance |
| 13 | Kenilworth Borough | 28.83% | Below Compliance |
| 14 | Roselle Borough | 28.06% | Below Compliance |
| 15 | Rahway City | 27.88% | Below Compliance |
| 16 | Cranford Township | 26.04% | Below Compliance |
| 17 | Plainfield City | 24.85% | Below Compliance |
| 18 | Linden City | 24.64% | Below Compliance |
| 19 | Hillside Township | 24.33% | Below Compliance |
| 20 | Scotch Plains Township | 15.65% | Below Compliance |
| 21 | Union Township | 8.89% | Below Compliance |
The bottom five towns in the ranking — Union Township (8.89%), Scotch Plains Township (15.65%), Hillside Township (24.33%), Linden City (24.64%), and Plainfield City (24.85%) — tell a specific structural story. These are all high-volume, high-population residential municipalities with significant post-2015 appreciation that was not captured in assessment rolls. They are also all municipalities that have gone the longest without a formal reval.
Union County's lowest Director's Ratio reflects an assessment base that was last calibrated under fundamentally different market conditions. Under the state's equalization math, a property in Union Township assessed at $100,000 has an implied market value exceeding $1.1 million. The ratio does not mean homeowners in Union Township are underpaying their fair share — the Union County Board of Taxation equalizes the county levy every year using exactly this ratio. It means the distribution of that levy across properties inside Union Township bears no meaningful relationship to what those properties are currently worth. A reval would re-sort the internal distribution entirely.
Scotch Plains sits second in the Union County ranking and reflects similar structural reval deferral. The township has seen sustained appreciation in its school-district-driven residential market — particularly in the sections feeding Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School — without corresponding assessment updates. When Scotch Plains is eventually ordered for reval, the internal redistribution will be particularly complex because of the section-by-section variance in appreciation patterns across the township.
Three cities cluster in the 24–25% range with broadly similar profiles: dense residential bases, older housing stock, significant commercial ratables, and no recent reval activity. Plainfield in particular has seen a meaningful appreciation cycle since 2020 driven by NYC-adjacent buyer demand and NJ Transit Raritan Valley Line access. Linden and Hillside carry large industrial and commercial assessment bases alongside residential, which complicates any future reval but does not eliminate the pressure.
New Providence Borough is the most recent Union County municipality to complete the reval process, making it the natural benchmark for what lies ahead for the rest of the non-compliant towns in the county. The Union County Board of Taxation ordered the reval; Professional Property Appraisers (PPA) of Delran handled the contract — the same firm currently working in Essex, Ocean, and multiple other counties. New assessments took effect for the 2026 tax year.
The mechanics for New Providence were standard for every NJ reval. Residential properties analyzed using the Sales Comparison Approach. Market conditions benchmarked to the valuation date of October 1 of the pre-tax year (under NJSA 54:4-2.26). Assessment letters mailed to homeowners. Informal review period opened for direct conversations with PPA. Formal appeals filed with the Union County Board of Taxation by May 1 of the reval year. Chapter 123's 15% common level range does not apply in a reval year — the new assessments must equal true market value with no range of permissible variance. For the complete walk-through of what happens after a reval letter arrives in any Union County town, see our NJ revaluation letter guide, and for the New Providence-specific detail, see our full New Providence reval post.
Union County's high-value residential municipalities — the towns most associated with top-tier school districts and NYC-commuter premium — sit in the middle of the ratio ranking. Westfield at 72.48%. Mountainside at 71.29%. Berkeley Heights at 35.73%. Summit at 30.81%. Cranford at 26.04%. These are among the highest-priced Union County markets by median sale price, and they carry some of the largest assessment-to-market gaps in absolute dollar terms.
The specific concern for buyers in these markets is the gap between the tax bill they see at closing and the tax bill they inherit after a future reval. A $1.4 million Summit home showing a current $18,000 tax bill on the MLS may carry a post-reval tax bill that is materially higher — not because the city is collecting more revenue, but because the property's share of the total levy has been recalibrated to actual market value. For a closer look at how Summit's market and tax structure work together, see our Summit NJ market post.
| Municipality | 2026 Director's Ratio | Gap to Compliance |
|---|---|---|
| Westfield Town | 72.48% | 12.52 points |
| Mountainside Borough | 71.29% | 13.71 points |
| Berkeley Heights Township | 35.73% | 49.27 points |
| Summit City | 30.81% | 54.19 points |
| Cranford Township | 26.04% | 58.96 points |
The Director's Ratio data is not abstract. It has specific, actionable implications for anyone transacting Union County real estate in 2026 or 2027. The implications are different for buyers and sellers, and in a county where ratios are this extreme, the stakes are correspondingly higher.
The tax bill a seller shows you reflects the current (low-ratio) assessment. The tax bill you will inherit after a future reval reflects the new (100%-of-market) assessment. In a town with a 25% Director's Ratio, that transition can move a tax bill by a meaningful margin — not because Union County is collecting more revenue, but because your property's share of the total levy has been recalibrated to reflect actual market value. Three specific checks before closing on Union County property:
In a low-ratio Union County town, your current tax bill is likely one of the stronger pricing arguments you have. A buyer comparing a $22,000 annual tax bill on a $1.2 million home in Scotch Plains to comparable inventory in a compliant town may conclude the current tax picture is a meaningful affordability factor. For the window before a reval order arrives, they're right. Once a reval is ordered and implementation begins, that advantage compresses. If you are planning to list in a Union County town where no reval has yet been ordered, the timing window matters.
The current low-ratio environment across Union County is not permanent. The county's 19 non-compliant municipalities will be revalued over the coming decade. Sellers in low-ratio towns have a timing window that will not stay open forever — and in a county where twelve towns sit below 35%, that window may close faster than in counties with more gradual ratio drift.
Predicting the exact sequence of future reval orders is not possible — the Union County Board of Taxation weighs multiple factors and the political calendar matters — but the data suggests a probable priority order based on how far each town has drifted from compliance and the size of its assessment base.
| Tier | Municipalities | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Highest Priority | Union Twp, Scotch Plains Twp, Hillside Twp, Linden City, Plainfield City | Lowest ratios (8–25%); largest assessment-to-market gaps countywide; largest residential bases |
| High Priority | Cranford, Rahway, Roselle, Kenilworth, Summit, Berkeley Heights | Ratios 26–36%; strong appreciation cycles; extended reval deferral |
| Mid Priority | Roselle Park, Fanwood, Mountainside, Westfield, Garwood | Ratios 51–73%; closer to compliance but still materially below threshold |
| Not Expected Near-Term | Winfield Twp, Elizabeth City, Springfield Twp, Clark Twp, New Providence (just completed) | Already compliant, borderline, or recently completed |
This is analysis, not prediction. The actual order in which the Board of Taxation moves will depend on staffing capacity at the municipal and county levels, available budget for contracting revaluation firms, and coefficient-of-deviation data that isn't public at the municipality level. But the direction of travel is unmistakable. For context on how Essex County is working through a parallel reval cycle, see our Essex County Director's Ratio ranking.
Union Township's 8.89% ratio reflects an extended period without a formal revaluation combined with sustained market appreciation that was not captured in the township's assessment roll. Low ratios in NJ are not punitive — they describe the drift between assessed values and current market values. The Union County Board of Taxation uses the ratio every year to equalize the county tax levy across municipalities, so Union Township homeowners are not under-taxed relative to other Union County taxpayers. What the ratio does indicate is that the internal distribution of the township's tax burden across properties no longer matches current market values — and a reval will eventually re-sort that distribution.
Not directly, and not necessarily. The Director's Ratio measures assessment-to-market drift; it does not determine how much tax a municipality collects. When a reval eventually corrects the ratio, total tax collections stay the same — but the distribution across properties changes. Homes that have appreciated faster than the town average typically see their tax share rise; homes that have appreciated more slowly or stayed flat typically see their tax share decline. Your individual outcome depends on how your property compares to the town average, not on the ratio itself.
The Union County Board of Taxation evaluates each municipality annually and issues reval orders as data and capacity permit. New Providence's reval took effect for the 2026 tax year. Based on current Director's Ratio data, the municipalities most statistically overdue are Union Township, Scotch Plains, Hillside, Linden, and Plainfield — though the Board weighs other factors including coefficient of deviation, municipal cooperation, and capacity of available revaluation firms. No specific future order dates have been publicly announced beyond New Providence.
Yes. In non-reval years, NJ Chapter 123 creates a common level range — your municipality's Director's Ratio plus or minus 15 percent. If your property's implied assessment-to-market ratio falls within that range, your assessment is presumed correct. If it falls outside (typically if you're over-assessed by more than 15 percent), the County Board is required to reduce your assessment. The appeal deadline in non-reval years is April 1. In a reval year, the deadline extends to May 1 and Chapter 123's common level range does not apply — the new assessment must equal true market value with no range of permissible variance.
Anthony leads Prodigy Real Estate across New York and New Jersey, with deep transaction experience in Union County markets — including active coverage of Summit, Westfield, Scotch Plains, Cranford, New Providence, Berkeley Heights, and Fanwood. Prodigy's hyperlocal data-driven approach gives Union County buyers and sellers the context they need to make informed decisions as the revaluation cycle moves through the county.
*Director's Ratio data is sourced from the NJ Division of Taxation's Chapter 123 Certification of Average Ratios (original certification October 1, 2025, as amended by the Tax Court of New Jersey January 30, 2026), applicable to tax year 2026 appeals. Revaluation timeline and procedural detail are sourced from New Providence Borough, Professional Property Appraisers, the Union County Board of Taxation, and the NJ Association of County Tax Boards. Reval priority analysis in Section Seven is this author's interpretation of publicly available ratio data and does not reflect official Board of Taxation plans or announcements. Individual property situations vary, and homeowners considering an appeal should consult with a licensed NJ attorney for advice specific to their circumstances.
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