BLOG: Property Tax Appeal
Non-Residential Development Fees: the Plain Language Confirms
The New Jersey Tax Court recently determined 1) whether a subject property was improved for the purposes of calculating the Non-Residential Development Fee (“NRDF”)(N.J.S.A. 40:55D-8.1 to 8.7) and 2) the correct date to use when determining the preexisting value of the subject property for the purposes of computing the NRDF owed. The NRDF is applied... Read More
Exempt From Taxes? Not if You Fail to Answer the Chapter 91 Request!
A New Jersey appellate court recently affirmed a Tax Court decision dismissing Alcatel’s complaint, which challenged the 2015 denial of a farmland assessment because Alcatel failed to respond to the tax assessor’s request for Chapter 91 data. NJSA 54:4-34 (“Chapter 91”) requires every real property owner “on written request of the assessor to render a... Read More
Who’s Got it Right? Court Finds Aging Corporate Center No Longer Holds Preeminence it Once Did and Was Not a Special Purpose Property
ML Plainsboro LTD Partnership/Gomez v. Plainsboro revolved around the highest and best use of two lots located at 800 Scudders Mill Road in Plainsboro. When the two lots were built by Merrill Lynch from 1985-1994, it was designed to be a premier corporate campus. It featured an office building with a fitness center and cafeteria... Read More
Appeals Court Finds Restaurant on University Campus Tax Exempt Due to Colorful Arguments
On May 31, 2018, the Tax Court of New Jersey held that a restaurant operated on Kean University’s campus did not constitute a university space and therefore was liable for local property taxes. Exactly one year later, an Appellate Division decision reversed the Tax Court decision and ruled that space on Kean University’s campus was... Read More
The App. Div. Says: “No Veteran’s Exemption Upon Remarriage”
The Appellate Division reversed the Tax Court’s judgment conferring a military veteran’s exemption for tax year 2016 as the surviving spouse of her first husband (an honorably discharged, decorated Vietnam veteran who qualified for an exemption) who remarried. The spouse’s exemption qualifies only during widowhood related to the death of the qualifying husband. This right... Read More
Taxpayer’s Effort to Increase Assessor’s Own Assessment Might be Frivolous and Trigger Sanctions
The New Jersey Tax Court recently issued an opinion regarding the timeliness of an application for sanctions and fees in connection with a property tax appeal filed by a resident who sought to increase the assessment on a home owned by a husband and wife who also are appraisers and local tax assessors. The tax... Read More
Tax Court to Tax Assessors: Time to Choose a Side!
A recent opinion by New Jersey Tax Court Mala Sundar, approved for publication, may force at least some of New Jersey’s municipal tax assessors to change the way they do business. The case, decided April 2, 2019, involved a motion by the Township of Hazlet to bar a property owner’s appraisal expert because that expert... Read More
Single Family Residence, Not Permitted By Local Zoning, Granted Exemption By Tax Court
A single family residence in Mahwah Township was recently granted a summary judgment, holding it exempt from property taxation pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6. The plaintiff, Chai Lifeline, Inc. owns a single family home in Mahwah used as a retreat to assist families with children suffering from terminal, life-threatening or other serious illnesses. The property includes... Read More
Property Tax: Does “Mere Retrofitting or Upgrading” Trigger an Added Assessment?
Judge Vito Bianco, pursuant to R. 2:5-6(c), filed an amplification letter expanding on his reasons for deciding to grant plaintiff, Plaza Twenty Three Station, LLC’s (“Plaza”) motion for summary judgment for tax year 2017 and denied its motion for summary judgment for tax year 2018. Plaza’s motion was to invalidate a 2017 added assessment imposed... Read More
App. Div. To Condemnors: Is This Really Necessary?
A recent New Jersey Appellate Division case focused upon the showing of necessity that a municipality or agency must make to condemn property located in a redevelopment zone and take it from its owners. The panel reversed the trial court’s decision allowing the Borough of Glassboro (“Borough”) to acquire Defendant’s (Jack Grossman, Matthew Roche and... Read More
