BLOG: Property Tax Appeal
Homeowner’s Reduced Assessment Upheld by Appeals Court
Long Branch City unsuccessfully appealed the decision of a Tax Court judge which reduced the assessment on a residential home. The home at issue was built in 2008. At trial, the property owner’s valuation expert testified that he relied primarily on comparable sales from Deal Township, a neighboring municipality which he considered more desirable, and... Read More
Sisters Get Only Some Mercy From Tax Court on Exemption Claim
Last week, another property exemption case was decided by the New Jersey Tax Court, this one in partial favor of the property owner, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americans Mid-Atlantic Community, Inc. (the “Sisters”). The Sisters own two parcels of property in Sea Isle City, Cape May County, which are located one block from... Read More
Country Club’s Exemption Claim Lands In The Rough
A Tax Court judge has rejected a claim by Sakima Country Club for a real property tax exemption under N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6. Sakima Country Club is a private club located in Carney’s Point Township. Sakima was originally incorporated in 1931 as the Dupont Penns-Grove Country Club, a non-profit entity. Sakima’s organizational documents explicitly provide that the... Read More
Another Taxpayer Fails to Overcome Presumption of Correctness
A recent New Jersey Tax Court trial regarding a single-family riverfront residence in Monmouth County resulted in a judgment affirming the assessment because the property owner, representing herself pro se, failed to overcome the presumption of correctness afforded to New Jersey local property tax assessments. The taxpayer owned a home on the Manasquan River. At... Read More
Appraiser’s Subjective Adjustments Rejected; Owner Loses Appeal
In a challenge to a residential property tax assessment for tax year 2011 the New Jersey Tax Court found that plaintiffs failed to provide sufficient competent evidence to overcome the presumption of validity. The plaintiffs in Bogusevich v. Ocean Twp., presented factual and expert testimony to which the township did not object and which the... Read More
Appeal from Dismissal of Exemption Claim Permitted Late in the Game
A property owner’s motion to dismiss a complaint filed by a municipality was recently denied in Twp. of Cranbury v. Princeton Ballet Society. Princeton Ballet Society (“PBS”) moved to dismiss the complaint filed by Cranbury, suggesting that it was filed past the statute of limitations to do so. The Township’s complaint alleged that PBS’s property... Read More
Landlord Goes for Broke to Intervene in Tax Appeal by Bankrupt Tenant
The Tax Court decided a case of first impression when it was asked to permit a landlord to intervene in a tax appeal to seek Freeze Act relief after a Bankruptcy Court judge entered an order reducing the assessment of the Subject Property following the entry of a Bankruptcy Court order. Pathmark, as tenant, filed... Read More
How to value thee? The NJ Tax Court counts the ways . . . .
Under New Jersey law all real property is required to be assessed as of October 1st of the preceding tax year at its “full and fair value,” i.e., what “it would sell for at a fair and bona fide sale by private contract on October 1 [of the pretax year].” So, how do you value... Read More
BMW’s Farmland Assessment Request Veers Off Course
Between 1998 and 2006, BMW permitted a tenant farmer to tend a 20 acre apple orchard which was part of a larger assemblage of property intended to house BMW’s corporate headquarters in the future. The orchard maintained farmland assessment status during this period, and contained over 200 trees, a body of water used as part... Read More
Another Contract Purchaser Wins Right to Pursue Tax Appeal
The New Jersey Tax Court recently held that a contract purchaser had standing to prosecute its tax appeal. The facts are plain and uncomplicated. In February 2012, plaintiff entered into a purchase agreement with the property owner that was eventually signed by both parties on March 29, 2012, although the closing did not occur until... Read More
