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Despite Expert Testimony, Taxpayer Unable to Overcome Onerous Burden of Proof
New Jersey taxpayers should be well aware of the presumption of validity/correctness that attaches to original assessments and judgments of the county boards, and also that the taxpayer always carry the burden of proving that the assessment is wrong. Overcoming the initial presumption, however, can be accomplished by providing some form of credible evidence. For... Read More
Adoption of Rehabilitation Plan in Woodbridge Not A Taking (D.N.J.)
From the United States District Court comes a new opinion from Judge Chesler, but there’s nothing new in the precedent cited denying a property’s owner’s claim of “inverse condemnation.” Simply stated, an inverse condemnation case is a procedure for a property owner to secure just compensation where government has taken private property for public use... Read More
Valuing Contaminated Property Continues to be Difficult in Tax Appeals
In ACP Partnership v. Garwood Borough, the Tax Court was asked to revisit the holding of our Supreme Court’s decision in Inmar Assocs., Inc. v. Bor. of Carlstadt. The Supreme Court in Inmar recognized that environmental remediation costs have an impact on the assessment valuation process. However, regardless of the cost associated with remediation of... Read More
NJ Sports Authority Threatening to Take Municipal Landfill
The NJ Sports and Exposition Authority, which runs the Meadowlands’ Sports Complex; New Jersey’s horsetracks; and now the former New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (itself the successor to the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission); recently advised the Town of Kearny that it intends to seize the Keegan Landfill by eminent domain. It appears that NJSEA has... Read More
Borough Underassesses Property for Years, Unable to Recoup with Omitted Assessment
In a recent Tax Court decision, the Borough of Franklin Lakes’ attempt to raise an assessment from $12 million to $20 million by imposing an omitted assessment was denied by the court. The subject property in dispute is located at 100 Sterling Drive in Franklin Lakes, and plaintiff had purchased the property back in 2007... Read More
State and Township Clash Over Property Tax Exemption
The Tax Court of New Jersey recently issued a ruling resolving a property tax exempt dispute concerning approximately 400+ acres of land in Monroe Twp. purchased by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (“NJTA”). As some may be aware, the NJTA has been involved in a project to widen and reconfigure a portion of the Turnpike from interchange... Read More
Tell the Truth and Nothing But the Truth, or Get Dismissed!
We have emphasized many times on our blog about the importance of responding to the assessor’s annual request for income and expense information for income-producing properties, commonly referred to as a Chapter 91 request. A property owner’s failure to respond is frequently cited as the basis for dismissal for many appeals involving income-producing properties. However, usually any effort... Read More
Court Forces Plaintiff to Disclose Unconsummated Contract of Sale
In Broadway-Somerset, LLC v. Twp. of Franklin, the parties were in dispute over the disclosure of an unconsummated contract for the sale of the subject property. During the course of discovery in plaintiff’s 2015 tax appeal, plaintiff disclosed in its answers to Interrogatories that “[a] confidential contingent agreement to sell the property exists, but a... Read More
Tax Court Gives Cold Shoulder to Freeze Act Application.
In a recent unpublished opinion, Newton West Ltd. v. Town of Newton, the Tax Court denied a motion for the application of the Freeze Act, N.J.S.A. 54:51A-8. Under the Freeze Act, a judgment by the Tax Court is “conclusive upon the municipal assessor” for the year under appeal and the next two years immediately... Read More
Turning a “Blind Eye” to Property’s Actual Use Sinks Taxpayer’s Appeal
The New Jersey Tax Court’s recent decision in Forsgate Ventures IX, LLC v. South Hackensack mirrored many aspects of the its earlier opinion in Clemente v. South Hackensack from 2013, and again reminded appraisers of the importance of the highest and best use analysis. Forsgate challenged the assessments imposed by South Hackensack for tax years 2009, 2011,... Read More
