Tax Court Requires Municipalities To Pay Up
More and more municipalities are seeking to push-off into the future their tax refund obligations to property owners who with successful tax appeals. While some municipalities are more open than others and seek the consent of the property owners for a delay beyond the standard 60 days from the date of judgment, others simply ignore their obligations under duly issued Tax Court orders. In Park 50 Group, LLC v. Weehawken Township, Docket No. 002507-2007 (November 2, 2011) the Tax Court granted a taxpayer’s motion in aid of litigant’s rights seeking to compel compliance with a prior order to pay a refund. The taxpayer also sought attorney’s fees. While the municipality issued the refund, plus interest, before the return date of the taxpayer’s motion, the court still ordered the municipality to pay attorney’s fees. In awarding fees, the court noted “the duty of public officials ‘entrusted with the diligent and responsible handling of taxpayer funds.’” (citing Trisun Corp. v. Town of West New York, 18 N.J. Tax 533 (2000), aff’d in part and rev’d in part, 341 N.J. Super. 556 (App. Div. 2001)). The court went on to find that the municipality “exhibited reckless indifference toward its responsibility to provide taxpayer’s refund for three months after the order to compel was entered, if not an intentional failure to do so.” The court denied the taxpayer’s request for sanctions in light of the fact that the payment had been made and sanctions would be akin to a punishment for past non-compliance and not in aid of litigant’s rights.
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