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Highlands Act Withstands Another Round of Legal Attacks
New Jersey appellate courts, in a series of published and unpublished opinions, recently addressed a variety of issues raised by the adoption of the Highlands Regional Master Plan (RMP) as required by the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act (the Highlands Act), N.J.S.A. 13:20-1 to -35. The Council, on July 17, 2008, adopted the RMP... Read More
Legislative Reform For Tax Assessments On The Way?
Legislation seeks to create a more cost-effective and accurate process of real property tax assessments New Jersey property owners continue to struggle under a crushing property tax burden. Instead of pursuing substantive policy initiatives to alleviate local taxes, the Legislature is instead looking to make changes to the process through which property is assessed for... Read More
Montclair Tax Assessment: Might be Wrong, But Not In Error
Property Owner Incorrectly Argues for Refund Under Correction of Errors Statute Following Revaluation A taxpayer alleged that he had been overcharged for property taxes following a 2007 revaluation. The taxes increased on one unit he owned in a two-unit condominium in Montclair following the revaluation, and he alleged his land value was too high because the... Read More
Jersey City: About Face!
Jersey City Hears McGinley Square Residents’ Eminent Domain Complaints – Withdraws Redevelopment Plan from Agenda Less than 24 hours after the Jersey City Planning Board recommended that a redevelopment area be designated that would authorize the use of eminent domain, a proposed resolution and ordinance to accept the Planning Board’s recommendation and approve a redevelopment plan... Read More
Property Tax Exemption Denied to West Windsor Non-Profit
The New Jersey Supreme Court, reviewing multiple decisions by the Appellate Division and the Tax Court, held that West Windsor Township properly denied an exemption application from International Schools Services, Inc., (“ISS”) because the non-profit activities on its property were commingled with the for-profit ventures with which it had a “significant” and “substantial” involvement. That... Read More
Property Tax Exemption Does Not Require Compliance With Municipal Zoning Ordinance
A New Jersey appellate court has reversed an earlier Tax Court decision denying a property tax exemption because the taxpayer was using the property contrary to local zoning. The appellate court held that the tax exemption statute, N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6, does not require, as a prerequisite, compliance with the municipal zoning ordinance. The taxpayer operated Oak Knoll School... Read More
Chapter 91 Strikes Another Taxpayer
Another appeal dismissed for failure to respond to request for income and expense information In the latest of a string of recent cases highlighting the harsh effect of N.J.S.A. 54:4-34, the Tax Court held that a municipal tax assessor’s request to a taxpayer for income and expense information, commonly referred to as a “Chapter 91” request,... Read More
Farmland assessment denied where non-agricultural activity outweighs farming
The New Jersey Tax Court upheld the municipal tax assessor’s denial of an application for a farmland assessment holding that the agricultural use was subordinate to the taxpayer’s non-agricultural exploitation of the property. In Atlantic Coast LEH v. Township of Little Egg Harbor, the property at issue is a mostly vacant twelve-acre parcel used to house... Read More
Municipal Budget Woes Continue
The impact of decreasing tax revenues and increasing expenses has continued to cause fiscal problems for municipal government agencies not only in New Jersey, but around the entire country. This recent article in the Legal Intelligencer examines the situations for towns in Pennsylvania and California, which have spiked demand for specialized counsel in municipal finance... Read More
Beach Access Plans Trouble New Jersey Property Owners
Beach access plans trouble New Jersey property owners: http://ping.fm/fT1Zx... Read More
