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Asbury Park Heads to Arbitration with Redeveloper
Court-ordered arbitration hearings are scheduled to begin in early June under the supervision of retired U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas H. Politan. At issue is whether Asbury Park’s designated redeveloper breached the terms of the redeveloper agreement and is now in default. The original redeveloper, Asbury Partners, lost control of approximately 70 to 80 properties to its lender... Read More
Long Branch Considers Rehabilitation in Lieu of Redevelopment
The City of Long Branch has asked its planning board to examine whether the Broadway Arts, Broadway- Gateway and Beachfront South redevelopment zones could be designated as rehabilitation zones. According to Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider “The ability to have enhanced zoning and planning and the benefits of it are enormous.” Property owners who spoke at... Read More
Failure to Pay Taxes at Time of Appeal Proves Fatal to Commercial Property Owner
In consolidated matters, a New Jersey appeals court considered whether a State law requiring that all municipal taxes be current for the tax year under appeal may be relaxed. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:51A-1(b): “At the time that a complaint has been filed with the Tax Court seeking review of judgment of county tax boards, all... Read More
Asbury Park Settlement Rejected
City’s Misconstrued Settlement to Property Owners’ Not Enforceable A New Jersey appeals court recently held that a settlement allegedly reached with a property owner in the Asbury Park oceanfront redevelopment area was not enforceable. Asbury Partners, as the master redeveloper of Asbury Park’s waterfront redevelopment area, had requested that the City condemn certain properties which it was unable... Read More
Will Income Tax Be Used to Offset Property Taxes?
Assemblyman Suggests Income Tax Increase to Shoulder Property Tax Burden New Jersey Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) has suggested a cure for the State’s “addiction” to local property taxes . According to an article in the Star-Ledger, Assemblyman Greenwald “wants towns to be able to decide by voter approval whether to set own sales and income taxes... Read More
New Jersey Residents Voice Redevelopment Project Concerns
Residents of Hamilton, New Jersey, and Camden, New Jersey, voiced the same concern about redevelopment projects at their respective city council meetings this week: Promise that you will not take our properties through eminent domain. In Hamilton, where the redevelopment area in question encompasses 1,000 acres and 191 properties, council members have previously stated that... Read More
Should New Jersey's Eminent Domain Laws Be Bulldozed?
Rutgers Law Review article urges redevelopment reform A recent article in the Rutgers Law Review calls upon the New Jersey Legislature to adopt meaningful eminent domain and redevelopment law reform in the wake of the 2005 decision of the United States Supreme Court in Kelo v. New London. The article, entitled “Toward Successful Urban Revitalization: Why New... Read More
Legislation Introduced to Share Property Tax Refund Burden
New Bill Would Require School and Fire Districts to Refund Successful Tax Appeals New Jersey Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris) has proposed Assembly Bill A-3412 which would require school districts and fire districts to join local towns and counties in refunding successful tax appeals. Currently, only municipalities and counties are responsible for crediting a property... Read More
New Jersey Lawmakers Adopt Measure to Protect Developers
New “Time of Application” Law Prohibits Municipalities from Rezoning During Development Application Process New Jersey’s Legislature has revised the Municipal Land Use Law to remove the ability of municipalities to revise zoning codes in an effort to thwart development applications the municipality opposes but which otherwise comply with local zoning laws. Previously, it was not unusual... Read More
Tax Court Denies Phillipsburg’s Chapter 91 Motion to Dismiss
In Town of Phillipsburg v. ME Realty, L.L.C., decided on April 8, 2011 (approved for publication), the New Jersey Tax Court denied the town of Phillipsburg’s motion to dismiss ME Realty’s property tax appeal for failure to respond to Phillipsburg’s request for income and expense information pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-34 (“Chapter 91 Request”). The Tax... Read More
