BLOG: Property Tax Appeal
Municipalities Reassessing Properties Despite Recent Revaluations
A recent article in the Star-Ledger highlights the large number of towns that are having their local tax assessors conduct reassessments, despite having recently hired private companies to conduct town-wide revaluations. Many towns conducted revaluations during the real estate boom, but are now trying to bring property assessments back in line with market values. Revaluations... Read More
Tax Break Denied to Developer in Jersey City
After purchasing the site known as 77 Hudson in 2006 for $65 million, developer K. Hovnanian recently had its lawsuit seeking a better tax abatement dismissed with prejudice by a Superior Court judge. The project first gained notoriety when one of the project’s units sold for $6 million several years ago. K. Hovnanian sought a... Read More
Eminent Domain Questions Asked of U.S.Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan at Confirmation Hearings
Even before Senator Charles Grassley (R. Iowa) questioned Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on July 1, 2010, about property rights and the Court’s Kelo decision, the media expected and suggested that she address the topic. See Christian Science Monitor ; or George Will’s column from the Washington Post. Senator Grassley was not satisfied with Kagan’s answers... Read More
Old Bridge Councilman and Resident Teaming Up to Propose Eminent Domain Restrictions
Old Bridge Township Councilman-at-Large Brian Cahill, and local resident Tony Piscetti, are in the early stages of researching and drafting a municipal ordinance which would prohibit the use of eminent domain to seize property for tax revenue purposes. The work is being done at the request of Old Bridge residents. Cahill acknowledged that the ordinance... Read More
Appeals Court Affirms Limited Scope of Correction of Errors Statute in Local Property Tax Assessments
A New Jersey appeals court affirmed the State tax court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the municipality against a taxpayer’s claim that he was entitled to lower property tax assessments for the tax years 2005 through 2008 under the Correction of Errors Statute, N.J.S.A. 54:51A-7. That statute provides, in part, that the tax... Read More
Recovery of Owner’s Attorneys’ Fees Limited in “Complicated” Inverse Condemnation Case
A New Jersey appeals court recently limited a Bergen County property owner’s ability to recover attorneys’ fees in an inverse condemnation proceeding to those fees actually and reasonably incurred in connection with the condemnation. The plaintiff, NJ Capital Partners, LLC, filed an inverse condemnation action after the Oakland Planning Board denied its subdivision application twice. After... Read More
New Legislation Could Deny Property Owners Full Refund of Excess Taxes Up to Three Years
According to a recent article in the Asbury Park Press , Assembly Bill No. 3056, as introduced June 24, 2010, would allow municipalities to reimburse the payment of excess taxes over three years. A Statement appended to the bill adds that “[t]his legislation is intended to relieve municipalities of the burden of paying property tax... Read More
NY High Court Permits Taking for Columbia University Expansion
The New York Court of Appeals reversed the decision of a lower court, holding that a Columbia University expansion project could proceed, resulting in the taking of private property for use by a private university. The court below had concluded that there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the Columbia University Educational Mixed Use Development Land... Read More
Jury Verdict in Cliffside Park Case Upheld on Appeal
Verdict not based on averaging or misconduct according to New Jersey’s Appellate Division An opinion released by a New Jersey appellate court found that a jury properly carried out its duties in Borough of Cliffside Park v. Estate of Ignatius Catanzaro., a condemnation case involving Cliffside Park’s taking of a downtown commercial building containing a restaurant... Read More
"Bizarre" Condemnation Case Resolved — Family Can Seek Payment for Avalon Beach Property
New Jersey Supreme Court Permits Filing of Inverse Condemnation in 40 Year Old Dune “Taking” Case The New Jersey Supreme Court decided earlier this week that Edward and Nancy Klumpp could pursue an inverse condemnation action decades after the Borough of Avalon constructed a dune on their property following a 1962 Nor’easter which destroyed their beachfront... Read More
