Taxpayer’s Appeal Allowed, Despite Objection to Late Service

Motion to Dismiss Tax Appeal Denied After County Tax Board Attempts to Implement Additional Service Requirements

In a holding similar to an earlier decision this year — Hopatcong Fuel On You, LLC v. Hopatcong Borough, __ N.J. Super. __ (Tax 2010) — New Jersey Tax Court Judge Vito L. Bianco denied a municipality’s motion to dismiss a taxpayer’s appeal, where the petition was filed before the statutory deadline, but the copy mailed to the municipal clerk was received shortly after the filing deadline, and the local tax assessor never received the copy despite the claim that a copy was mailed. Reiterating the previous holding, Judge Bianco found that N.J.S.A. 54:3-21 and N.J.A.C. 18:12A-1.6(j) did not impose a strict April 1 deadline for service of a petition of appeal upon the tax assessor or municipal clerk, and that any such deadline for service would be a question for the legislature to address.  Because the taxpayer here complied with the statutorty and regulatory provisions regarding the filing deadline, the appeal was allowed.

A copy of the opinion can be found here.

The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Cory K. Kestner, Esq., of McKirdy & Riskin, PA, in the preparation of this article.