BLOG: Property Tax Appeal
NY taxpayers take Nassau County to court to force payment of property tax refunds.
A taxpayer that prevails in a real estate tax appeal is entitled to a refund of any overpayments in taxes that were based on the old assessment. In New Jersey we have seen more and more municipalities request additional time beyond the standard sixty (60) days to issue the refund. Municipalities are more frequently not... Read More
Interactive Map Puts Spotlight on New Jersey’s Crushing Tax Burden
NJ Spotlight has created a tax map which displays the average 2011 tax burden for property owners by municipality, and how that may have changed since 2009. According to the Tax Foundation, since 2009 New Jersey’s median property taxes are the highest in the nation, and the state also ranked first when comparing property taxes as... Read More
Red Card for Red Bull Soccer Stadium
Like a referee ejecting a soccer player for overly aggressive play, the New Jersey Tax Court has thrown out a tax appeal that claimed Red Bull Arena, home to the New York Red Bulls Soccer Club, is a tax-exempt entity. The arena sits on a 12-acre parcel that is located within a designated redevelopment area... Read More
Refunds for Environmental Remediation?
Getting a refund from a successful property tax appeal may get a little harder for owners of certain contaminated industrial properties. State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney introduced legislation yesterday that would require a property tax refund to be forwarded to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) and applied toward remediation costs, instead of being... Read More
Another Taxpayer Bites the Dust, This Time For Being One Day Too Late
A Tax Court judge dismissed a complaint that arrived by regular mail one day past the statutory filing deadline. The property owner initially appealed his assessment to the Monmouth County Board of Taxation, who affirmed the judgment and mailed a copy to the parties on September 20, 2011. The property owner’s Tax Court complaint was... Read More
Ailing Seller’s Eagerness to Sell Fatal to Buyer’s Tax Appeal
A sale of the subject property was recently disqualified as an “arms’ length” sale, according to the Tax Court, because the seller was ill and accepted the first offer made by the buyer. The buyer filed a tax appeal to challenge the property’s assessment and offered only the sale of property to establish that the... Read More
City Council Cannot Cure Assessor’s Mistake
In Harbor Cove Marina LLC v. City of Somers Point, the Law Division of the Superior Court struck down a resolution by the City Council that increased an assessment in an attempt to cover the mistake of the City Tax Assessor. The City Council adopted the resolution increasing the assessment after the assessor realized that... Read More
Star Ledger Reports: Finally Some Property Tax Relief!
The Sunday Star-Ledger reported yesterday its finding of an analysis of local property taxes in all 566 New Jersey municipalities that shows the average property tax bill was $7,758 in 2011, an increase of about $182 or 2.4% from 2010. (The Star Ledger article can be found here) This increase was at a significantly slower... Read More
Experts’ Opinions on Golf Course Valuation Not Up to Par
A Tax Court judge rejected the opinions of both parties’ experts after both failed to present sufficient evidence of value at trial. The property under appeal for the 2008 and 2009 tax years, the Bear Brook Golf Club, is a 183 acre 18 hole semi-private golf course in Fredon Township, New Jersey, with an assessment... Read More
Property Owner’s “False” Responses Lead to Dismissal of Tax Appeal
A recent decision by the Tax Court held that a property owner’s failure to include information concerning a concession lease for a 3,000 sq. ft. area within a skating rink was a “false or fraudulent account” under N.J.S.A. 54:4-34 (Chapter 91 Request). The property owner answered the Township of Mt. Laurel’s Tax Assessor’s request for... Read More
