BLOG: Property Tax Appeal
Landlord Goes for Broke to Intervene in Tax Appeal by Bankrupt Tenant
The Tax Court decided a case of first impression when it was asked to permit a landlord to intervene in a tax appeal to seek Freeze Act relief after a Bankruptcy Court judge entered an order reducing the assessment of the Subject Property following the entry of a Bankruptcy Court order. Pathmark, as tenant, filed... Read More
How to value thee? The NJ Tax Court counts the ways . . . .
Under New Jersey law all real property is required to be assessed as of October 1st of the preceding tax year at its “full and fair value,” i.e., what “it would sell for at a fair and bona fide sale by private contract on October 1 [of the pretax year].” So, how do you value... Read More
BMW’s Farmland Assessment Request Veers Off Course
Between 1998 and 2006, BMW permitted a tenant farmer to tend a 20 acre apple orchard which was part of a larger assemblage of property intended to house BMW’s corporate headquarters in the future. The orchard maintained farmland assessment status during this period, and contained over 200 trees, a body of water used as part... Read More
Another Contract Purchaser Wins Right to Pursue Tax Appeal
The New Jersey Tax Court recently held that a contract purchaser had standing to prosecute its tax appeal. The facts are plain and uncomplicated. In February 2012, plaintiff entered into a purchase agreement with the property owner that was eventually signed by both parties on March 29, 2012, although the closing did not occur until... Read More
So what does moldy bread have to do with valuing contaminated property?
When I was a boy staying at my grandparents shore house I informed my grandfather that we needed bread because there was mold on the loaf we had. He told me to cut out the mold and eat the “good” bread. Needless to say, I went without bread until later in the week when my grandmother... Read More
Tax Court: No Show, No Go!
In Harshad Patel v. Township of Maple Shade, the New Jersey Tax Court granted Maple Shade’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s 2012 tax appeal complaint for lack of prosecution because plaintiff failed to appear at the scheduled hearing before the Burlington County Board of Taxation. The facts were not disputed by the parties. Plaintiff’s attorney faxed... Read More
Taxpayer Fails to Overcome “Presumption of Correctness”
Another New Jersey property owner learned the hard way that reducing a property tax assessment may not be as easy as it seems. In Stransky v. Township of Howell, the owner filed an appeal from a Monmouth County Tax Board judgment which had affirmed the 2012 assessment on a 13 acre farm containing a single-family... Read More
Property Owners Score in a Chapter 91 Trifecta
In a trio of Tax Court cases dealing with Chapter 91, the Tax Court reaffirmed the obligation of municipalities to adhere to the requirements of N.J.S.A. 54:4-34 if they want the court to dismiss tax appeals under the statute. As has been discussed numerous times on this blog, N.J.S.A. 54:4-34, also known as “Chapter 91,”... Read More
All or Nothing: Appeals Dismissed for Failure to Challenge Overall Assessment by Tenant
Plaintiff/Tenant Brunswick Hills Racquet Club timely filed tax appeals for tax years 2011, 2012, and 2013. East Brunswick Township moved to dismiss all years under appeal after plaintiff conceded that it was not contesting the total assessed value of the shopping mall where it was located, but was instead only challenging the values allocated to... Read More
Bad penmanship not “good cause” to compel production of tax returns
In Robmar Realty Assoc. v. Rockaway Twp. the Tax Court upheld the policy of protecting tax returns from disclosure in litigation unless the information is clearly relevant to the subject matter of the action. In Robmar, the court denied the Township’s motion to compel copies of plaintiff’s tax returns. While not apparent from the moving papers,... Read More
