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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
Red Card for Red Bull Soccer Stadium
Like a referee ejecting a soccer player for overly aggressive play, the New Jersey Tax Court has thrown out a tax appeal that claimed Red Bull Arena, home to the New York Red Bulls Soccer Club, is a tax-exempt entity. The arena sits on a 12-acre parcel that is located within a designated redevelopment area... Read More
Refunds for Environmental Remediation?
Getting a refund from a successful property tax appeal may get a little harder for owners of certain contaminated industrial properties. State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney introduced legislation yesterday that would require a property tax refund to be forwarded to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) and applied toward remediation costs, instead of being... 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
City Council Cannot Cure Assessor’s Mistake
In Harbor Cove Marina LLC v. City of Somers Point, the Law Division of the Superior Court struck down a resolution by the City Council that increased an assessment in an attempt to cover the mistake of the City Tax Assessor. The City Council adopted the resolution increasing the assessment after the assessor realized that... 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
