Hours after Governor Jim McGreevey introduced a new statewide Property Tax Convention Task Force last week, City Manager Terry Reidy tackled the same thorny issue at a packed meeting of the Asbury Park Homeowners Association.

"Taxes! We're getting clobbered by them!" people rightfully complained.

As you're undoubtedly aware, New Jersey has some of the highest property taxes in the nation, and Asbury Park residents - whose taxes are computed according to a state formula - are definitely not exempt. (Neither are city council members: I'd love it if my annual council salary at least covered my home property tax.)

Indeed, in a highly diverse community with a small-town tax base and big-city problems, it often feels like we're trying to feed 100 people from one can of Chunky Chicken soup.

What can we do? Waiting for the state's new Property Tax Task Force to help set up a constitutional convention that, in turn, will recommend a new tax system to state legislators certainly isn't the answer. We'll all need third jobs by then.

Drastically chopping the city budget at a time when people are demanding more and better services also isn't the answer. In fact, we've already cut the city's overall budget from $31.2 million in 2001 to $27 million in 2004.

So how do we raise income - and substantially improve services - without squeezing property owners (like me) to death?

On the positive side, the city's tax collection rate rose from 80.7 percent in 2001 to 94.3 percent in 2003, thanks largely to Asbury Partners' purchase of the beachfront properties. And, as Terry Reidy described in this column a few weeks ago, we'll essentially raise that rate to 100 percent this year by holding accelerated tax lien sales on all properties with unpaid 2004 taxes.

This will take significant pressure off punctual taxpayers, who had to shell out an additional $2 million in 2003 to cover delinquent taxpayers under a mandatory state formula. (And, yes, we will work with people in dire financial circumstances to help them meet their obligation.)

With the price of city homes and commercial buildings spiraling in response to countywide increases, why not call for a citywide tax reevaluation to ensure the tax burden is fairly spread among property owners? And why are some new property owners already being hit with added tax assessments?

At last week's Homeowners Association meeting, Terry explained that - while there is no hard and fast rule - New Jersey towns typically schedule full-scale tax reevaluations every 10 years or so, depending on the relative stability of local property values. Asbury Park conducted a property reevaluation in 1988, followed by a court-ordered one in 2001.

Thus, 2001 is our official "base year", meaning that everyone's property should be valued according to 2001 rates. Thus, if a house was assessed at $100,000 in 2001 and sold "as is" for $300,000 in 2004, property taxes would still be assessed on the $100,000 value, to keep it in line with neighboring properties that didn't change hands.

Assessing the unimproved property at $300,000, just because it sold for that amount, is popularly known as "spot assessing" and is illegal. (In recent months, several new property owners have accused the city of spot assessing their homes, but these charges have proved baseless in every case we've investigated.)

Why then are so many new homeowners suddenly paying higher taxes than their neighbors? State law requires that tax assessors reevaluate a property any time an owner improves it in a way that increases the property's value.

Thus, if you take out a permit to add an addition to your home or to substantially upgrade the kitchen or bathroom, the tax assessor is required to levy an added assessment to cover those specific improvements, using 2001 values. (Pure maintenance items - like new paint or a new roof - do not generally trigger added assessments.)

Many new property owners substantially upgrade their buildings, and that triggers added assessments - and higher taxes.

Why not schedule a citywide tax reevaluation, then, to ensure that everyone is paying taxes based on the current fair market value? Unfortunately, an improved property will most likely still be assessed higher than its unimproved neighbor, even if both properties rise in assessed value. And, while some assessments will proportionately rise or fall to reflect changing market conditions in different parts of town, the overall relief provided to city taxpayers will not change significantly until we increase our taxpayer base.

(And, yes, I agree that this seems like a disincentive to fix up your property, but that's how the state law currently works.)

Which is why beachfront redevelopment should ultimately help us all: If we get 500 new units in town, each potentially paying $7,000 a year in taxes, that will be an additional $3.5 million for our annual city budget. A thousand new units would bring us approximately $7 million a year. (And, no, the cost of city services would not rise at the same rate, meaning there will be proportionately more money to relieve - and serve - us all.)

This money will begin flowing into the city's coffers as soon as the units are complete, even with the tax abatements being offered on the beachfront, in the Steinbach's building, and to other smaller developers who have approached the city for assistance. Indeed, every city home or building owner is already eligible for a five-year, $25,000 exemption on improvements if their building is owner-occupied and at least 20 years old, but you must apply within 30 days of completing the improvements.

It goes without saying that we'll continue to snap up every bit of outside aide we can find - from emergency tax relief to Bruce Springsteen's playground donation - but state and federal funds, in particular, are disappearing.

Anyone who tells you the next two or three years are going to offer significant tax relief - in Asbury Park or anywhere else in New Jersey - is pulling your chain, and that's something that each of us is going to have to individually grapple with. The good news for Asbury Park, however, is that we have the opportunity for real relief in the form of a growing tax base, beginning in about 2006.

Until then, our real challenge - in city hall and as a community - is going to be how to best balance the need for improved services with the need to control costs. And that, as Dr. Weeks would say, is no bull - no matter which end you're facing.