Legislature Introduces Bills to Make Tax Appeal Process More User Friendly
New Jersey Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco, Jr., has introduced A2194, titled the “Property Assessment Appeal Transparency Act,” which would require the Director of Taxation to include specific language on the taxpayer’s notice of assessment or notice of change of assessment to emphasize the affect of a property’s assessed value on that property’s taxes. The new language would inform taxpayers that the assessment they received would be used to calculate their property tax burden, and that an appeal must be filed to the county tax board or tax court if the taxpayer disagrees with the assessment. The bill is intended to eliminate “confusion on the part of many property owners who do not understand that the amount of their property tax bill is directly related to the property’s assessed value.”
In addition, New Jersey State Senator Jeff Van Drew introduced S1157 which would allow the municipal tax assessor to modify an assessment to correct errors so long as the correction is made before April 15th, and the correction is reported to the County Board no later than May 1st. Currently, the corrections need to be filed as a property tax appeal to either the county tax board or the tax court. The bill’s Statement notes that the change in process should “reduce the time and expense associated with the modification of an assessment.”
If you wish to contact your local legislator about these bills, please click here.
The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Cory K. Kestner, Esq., of McKirdy & Riskin, PA, in the preparation of this article.
