Court Rejects Another Attempt To Deny Farmland Assessment

For the second time in a little over month, the New Jersey Tax Court upheld a property owner’s protections under the Farmland Assessment Act of 1964.  Plaintiffs own 39.27 acres of which 38.27 acres of the parcel were farmland assessed.  In 2009, the plaintiffs filed an application for farmland assessment for the 2010 tax year. After the county board of taxation requested that farmland assessment applications be more thoroughly examined, the tax assessor investigated plaintiffs’ use of the subject property.  The assessor’s investigation revealed a lack of farming activity, and no evidence was provided by plaintiffs that the property satisfied the $500 of income from farming activities threshold.  The assessor determined that this information was sufficient to deny plaintiffs’ farmland assessment application. Because the property had a long history as an active farm, the assessor granted plaintiffs’ application for only 37.27 acres to “get [plaintiffs’] attention” so plaintiffs would increase their activity for any future farmland assessment applications.  Plaintiffs filed an appeal with the Hunterdon County Board of Taxation who affirmed the assessor’s decision. Plaintiffs filed a Complaint with the Tax Court to challenge the County Board’s decision.  While the matter was pending in the Tax Court, plaintiffs’ 2011 application was granted for their entire 38.27-acre parcel based on evidence of active farming.

The court acknowledged the unusual circumstances presented in the case, and that the tax assessor could have denied plaintiffs’ application in its entirety because there was insufficient evidence of agricultural or horticultural activity at the subject property during 2009 to justify farmland assessment for 2010. The assessor, however, did not make that determination, but instead trimmed the land qualified for farmland assessment from 38.27 acres to 37.27 acres without identifying the one acre she removed from farmland assessment. Although the court appreciated the assessor’s reasoned attempt to spur more farming activity, it noted that the assessor’s decision is not supported by law as the farmland assessment statutes only authorize an assessor to investigate an application for farmland assessment and to make a determination of whether the property owner has provided sufficient evidence to warrant preferential treatment for the subject property, and if the investigation reveals that farmland assessment is warranted, the assessor is authorized to grant the application, while if the investigation results in insufficient evidence to support farmland assessment, the assessor is authorized to deny the application. Thus, the court reversed the decision and granted a farmland assessment for the entire 38.27 acres.

A copy of the Tax Court’s opinion in Bailey v. Township of Franklin may be found here.

For more blog posts on farmland assessments in New Jersey, please see the following:

Change of Use Required to Impose Rollback Taxes on Farmland Assessed Property

Farmland Assessment Rules May Tighten

Farmland assessment denied where non-agricultural activity outweighs farming

Farmland Assessment Practices Growing Concern for Two Senators