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Challenge to Redevelopment Action Decades After Finding of Blight Denied
The Appellate Division recently analyzed an old blight designation in Ocean County in a January 18, 2017 opinion. You may have to read it more than once to understand the convoluted fact pattern. Or, you may want to skip ahead to the legal analysis because it is short and to the point. Two tracts... Read More
To Survive in NJ Tax Court – Forget Trust, Just Verify
In yet another opinion affirming a local property tax assessment, the New Jersey Tax Court found insufficient data upon which it could make a determination of value. In the unreported decision of VBV Realty LLC v. Scotch Plains Township, issued earlier this month (for copy of decision click here), the court considered a challenge to... Read More
Interstate Gas Pipelines in NJ – Public Use or Private Benefit?
Photo credit. http://www.spectraenergy.com/Natural-Gas-Oil-101/ New Jersey is the most densely populated State in the Union. It may soon have the most underground gas transmission lines. The latest in a series of new pipelines is being proposed in New Jersey is by PennEast, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy. An interactive map of the proposed route can be... Read More
5 Questions to Ask Before Appealing Your New Jersey Property Taxes
As the year begins to draw to a close, it’s common for many of us to start thinking about ways to save money in the coming year. Real property taxes are usually the second biggest expense for homeowners, trailing only the expense of a mortgage. If it has been a while since you’ve thought about... Read More
Eminent Domain in a Nutshell – More Takings on the Horizon?
Eminent domain has frequently been in the news over the past few months, part in thanks to president-elect Donald Trump’s support for and involvement in the practice, and also the controversial Dakota oil pipeline. Amidst all of the media attention, here is a review of the basic tenets of eminent domain. Eminent domain refers to... Read More
Two Recent Tax Court Opinions – One Focuses on Procedure, the Other on Substance
Here’s the latest, concerning two recently published opinions from the Tax Court of New Jersey: In 1959 Highway 24, LLC v. Twp. of Wall, the Tax Court clarified the ambiguity as to the filing deadline for counties participating in the Assessment Demonstration Program (“ADP”). The Legislature had enacted the ADP in 2013 and with the... Read More
NJ Transit v. Franco – Property Owner Verdict Overturned on Appeal
On October 19, 2016, almost seven years after a condemnation action was commenced, the Appellate Division published an opinion reversing an $8,150,000 jury verdict in favor of the property owners from 2013. The pre-condemnation offer of compensation was $934,500. The trial judge also ordered that $1,967,865 be escrowed in the Superior Court Trust Fund to cover... Read More
Taxpayer Obtains Freeze Act Relief Amid City’s Outcry
As many are aware, the Freeze Act is a safeguard for taxpayers who have obtained a judgment either by trial or by stipulation of settlement. It protects the taxpayer by “freezing” an assessment for two years subsequent to the base year of a final judgment of the Tax Court. Generally, unless a taxpayer explicitly waives this... Read More
City Tries to Dismiss Tax Exemption Case for Plaintiff’s Failure to Check a Box
The plaintiff in West Side Community Center v. City of Asbury Park filed an appeal with the Tax Court to claim an exemption on its property. However, in its Case Information Statement, plaintiff had forgotten to check the box “Exemption/Abatement Claimed.” The City filed a motion to dismiss the complaint since it failed to specifically... Read More
Landlocked Property Yields Property Tax Reduction
Recently, in Acocella v. Cedar Grove, the Tax Court of New Jersey was asked to examine the value of a vacant landlocked parcel. The subject property is approximately one-acre and has no frontage or roadway access. It lies to the rear of plaintiff’s residential parcel, and surrounded on all sides by adjacent properties. Given the lack of... Read More
