Score
The current measured tax position under a named Watchdog model. The score remains bounded to 0–100.
One score. Six dimensions. ROBUST.
The Watchdog Score is the 0–100 result. The ROBUST Framework explains why the number is what it is through six measurable dimensions: Recourse, Overassessment Position, Burden, Uniformity, Stability and Trajectory.
Illustrative property
Watchdog Score · powered by ROBUST
RRecoursePaths and evidence for review.
OOverassessment PositionAssessment versus supported value.
BBurdenTaxes relative to property value.
UUniformityConsistency across the assessment system.
SStabilityPressure for reassessment or structural change.
TTrajectoryDirection of the property's tax position.
The six foundational dimensions
The branding does not change the current score weights. It gives the six existing components a permanent, understandable language that can travel across Watchdog.
R10% current weight
Recourse
What evidence and correction paths exist when a property deserves closer review?
- County appeal info
- Appeal evidence strength
- Correction and review pathways
O20% current weight
Overassessment Position
Where does this individual assessment sit relative to supported value and the Chapter 123 framework?
- Assessed value
- Supported market value
- Chapter 123 position
B30% current weight
Burden
How heavy is the recurring property-tax cost relative to the property's supported value?
- Annual property tax
- Estimated market value
- Effective burden relationship
U15% current weight
Uniformity
How consistently does the municipality assess properties across the local assessment system?
- Coefficient of Deviation
- Assessment-to-sale dispersion
- Municipal consistency
S15% current weight
Stability
How much evidence suggests assessment reset, revaluation or structural change pressure?
- Chapter 123 ratio info
- Verified-sale ratio drift
- Residential COD pressure
T10% current weight
Trajectory
Is the property's assessment relationship moving in step with verified market evidence?
- Verified sale evidence
- Assessment relationship
- Municipal ratio info
Watchdog tells you where you stand. ROBUST tells you why.
A score should never be a black box. A user should be able to move from the headline number into the six dimensions, then into the specific markers and source evidence that produced each result.
See the Score ConstitutionThree layers, not one naked number
Confidence
How much checked evidence supports the result. Missing evidence is not silently replaced with a guess.
Momentum
The direction of change over time. Momentum is a separate long-range Watchdog dimension and is not forced into the current level score.
“Fairness” is not one single metric anymore.
Watchdog previously used fairness language for more than one concept. ROBUST separates two questions that should not be collapsed.
O · Individual position
Overassessment Position asks where a specific property's assessment sits against supported value and Chapter 123 info.
U · System consistency
Uniformity asks how consistently the municipality assesses properties, using measures such as Coefficient of Deviation.
Why the split matters
A property can have a strong individual position inside a less-uniform municipality, or a pressured individual position inside a highly uniform municipality.
Backed by public records and checked Watchdog markers
The ROBUST Framework is designed around traceable evidence. Each dimension page identifies what is official source data, what Watchdog derives from it, and what the result cannot conclude.
MOD-IV, SR-1A sales, equalization, tax rates, Coefficient of Deviation and Chapter 123 common-level ranges. Official data
Official common-level-range info used to understand assessment position. Definitions
Checked calculations such as market-value estimate, revaluation pressure and appeal evidence strength preserve explicit dependencies and explanations.
The method write-up, which we keep updated, covers missing evidence, sensitivity testing, versioning, anti-gaming, fair-housing safeguards and geographic expansion. Read it
ROBUST is not a desirability score. It does not grade a family, neighborhood, town or government. It measures defined property-tax and assessment conditions. It does not by itself determine an appeal, appraisal, loan, insurance decision, legal outcome or where someone should live.
Start with a property. Then take the number apart.
The long-term goal is simple: every Watchdog Score should be understandable through the same six recognizable dimensions, with evidence one click away.
Look up a New Jersey property