BLOG: Property Tax Appeal
Interactive Map Puts Spotlight on New Jersey’s Crushing Tax Burden
NJ Spotlight has created a tax map which displays the average 2011 tax burden for property owners by municipality, and how that may have changed since 2009. According to the Tax Foundation, since 2009 New Jersey’s median property taxes are the highest in the nation, and the state also ranked first when comparing property taxes as... Read More
Buonocore Named Eminent Domain Lawyer of the Year
Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named McKirdy & Riskin’s John H. Buonocore, Jr. as the “Newark Area Best Lawyers Eminent Domain and Condemnation Lawyer of the Year” for 2012. Best Lawyers is designating “Lawyers of the Year” in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer... Read More
Appellate Division Gives Train Case One-way Ticket Back to ALJ with Remand
Norfolk Southern Railway Company petitioned the New Jersey Department of Transportation for authorization to acquire the neighboring property owned by Intermodal Properties, LLC, by eminent domain after the property owner refused an arms-length sale. Railroads, as a public utility, can receive authorization under N.J.S.A. 48:12-35.1 once they show that the land is needed for a... Read More
Jury Awards Double NJ Transit's Offer for Property Taken by Eminent Domain
The families who owned the Mother’s Park and Ridelot in Wayne, New Jersey were awarded $2.6 million in just compensation by Passaic County jury last week for the taking of their property through eminent domain by NJ Transit. The property was originally acquired by DJ Properties to be converted to a restaurant, but the owner... Read More
California Redevelopment Law No Longer a Blight to Property Owners
In December 2011, the California Supreme Court upheld legislation dissolving the State’s redevelopment agencies which must now turn over their property tax revenues to the State. Dissolving the redevelopment agencies was part of cost-cutting measures taken by Governor Jerry Brown to address a massive budget shortfall. Approving the Court’s decision, critics of the redevelopment agencies... Read More
Another Taxpayer Bites the Dust, This Time For Being One Day Too Late
A Tax Court judge dismissed a complaint that arrived by regular mail one day past the statutory filing deadline. The property owner initially appealed his assessment to the Monmouth County Board of Taxation, who affirmed the judgment and mailed a copy to the parties on September 20, 2011. The property owner’s Tax Court complaint was... Read More
Ailing Seller’s Eagerness to Sell Fatal to Buyer’s Tax Appeal
A sale of the subject property was recently disqualified as an “arms’ length” sale, according to the Tax Court, because the seller was ill and accepted the first offer made by the buyer. The buyer filed a tax appeal to challenge the property’s assessment and offered only the sale of property to establish that the... Read More
Speedwell Redevelopment Plan Approved
The Morristown Town Council unanimously approved the Speedwell Redevelopment Plan last evening. This plan calls for the development of 650 new housing units and 40,000 square feet of retail space over three phases. The first phase of the project calls for the redeveloper to construct 268 housing units on a Morristown DPW property off of early... Read More
Experts’ Opinions on Golf Course Valuation Not Up to Par
A Tax Court judge rejected the opinions of both parties’ experts after both failed to present sufficient evidence of value at trial. The property under appeal for the 2008 and 2009 tax years, the Bear Brook Golf Club, is a 183 acre 18 hole semi-private golf course in Fredon Township, New Jersey, with an assessment... Read More
Property Owner’s “False” Responses Lead to Dismissal of Tax Appeal
A recent decision by the Tax Court held that a property owner’s failure to include information concerning a concession lease for a 3,000 sq. ft. area within a skating rink was a “false or fraudulent account” under N.J.S.A. 54:4-34 (Chapter 91 Request). The property owner answered the Township of Mt. Laurel’s Tax Assessor’s request for... Read More
