Calendaring Mistake By Attorney Not Worthy of Dismissal at County Board Hearing

A New Jersey Tax Court judge recently held that a County Board of Taxation erroneously dismissed a tax appeal after the plaintiff’s attorney appeared the day after the matter was originally scheduled to be heard.  Under New Jersey law, parties at a County Board hearing are required to exchange comparable sales seven days before the scheduled hearing, and must appear at the scheduled hearing to preserve a right of appeal to the Tax Court.

Relying on Wilshire Oil Co. of Texas v. Jefferson Twp., 17 N.J. Tax 583, 585-86 (Tax 1998), the Tax Court determined that “dismissals should not be invoked in the absence of prejudice and unless the plaintiff’s behavior is deliberate and contumacious.”  The Tax Court then found plaintiff’s attorney’s actions were not “deliberate and contumacious,” but was instead careless, based the attorney’s appearance at the County Board on the following day to present a case based on the comparable sales he had previously supplied to the County Board and to defendant.  The Tax Court also noted that the County Board had sufficient time to reschedule the matter after plaintiff’s attorney made a request to do so.

A copy of the New Jersey Tax Court’s opinion in Jennings v. North Brunswick Twp., Docket No.: 011731-2011 (Tax Ct. Nov. 18, 2011), can be found here.

For more discussion on New Jersey property tax appeal procedure, please see the following blog posts:

Tax Court to Municipality: Enough is Enough!

Changes to Statute Requiring Payment of Taxes Pending Appeal Being Considered

Chapter 91 Strikes Another Taxpayer

Failure to Pay Taxes at Time of Appeal Proves Fatal to Commercial Property Owner

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