BLOG: Property Tax Appeal
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
Star Ledger Reports: Finally Some Property Tax Relief!
The Sunday Star-Ledger reported yesterday its finding of an analysis of local property taxes in all 566 New Jersey municipalities that shows the average property tax bill was $7,758 in 2011, an increase of about $182 or 2.4% from 2010. (The Star Ledger article can be found here) This increase was at a significantly slower... 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
McKirdy & Riskin’s Thomas Olson And Anthony DellaPelle Will Be Featured As Panelists
McKirdy & Riskin’s Thomas Olson and Anthony DellaPelle will be featured as panelists, along with appraiser and builder David Bossart, at an upcoming seminar sponsored by the Community Builders and Remodelers Association: “Real Estate Tax Appeals: What builders need to know about reducing their property tax expenses”. The seminar will be held on Wednesday, January 11, 2012,... Read More
Tax Court to Nonprofit – Only 2% Exempt.
In Phillipsburg Riverview Organization Inc. v. Town of Phillipsburg, (December 16, 2011, Approved for Publication), the Tax Court denied in part and granted in part a property tax exemption pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6 to plaintiff, Phillipsburg Riverview Organization Inc. (“PRO”), a New Jersey not-for-profit corporation. Under its Articles of Incorporation, PRO was formed to promote... Read More
Tenant Entitled to Tax Refund, But No More
In this matter, Quo Non Ascendet Inc. v. Aperion Enterprises Inc., Docket No. 012184-2008 (December 5, 2011), the Tax Court was called upon to settle a dispute between a landlord and tenant. The plaintiff here, a tenant, filed this action against defendant, its landlord, alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment after learning that the landlord... Read More
Morristown Hotel Wins Freeze Act Application and Refund
The owner of the Morristown Hyatt hotel has prevailed in a challenge to an $8,000,000 “added assessment” for 2009 levied by the Town of Morristown onto the property’s local tax assessment. The property owner, Fifth Roc Jersey Associates, LLC applied for protection under the “Freeze Act”, N.J.S.A. 41:51A-8, which provides that a successful tax appeal... Read More
Property owner survives Verona’s “Chapter 91” attack
N.J.S.A. 54:4-34, also known as Chapter 91, is often used by municipalities to attack property owners’ tax appeals on procedural grounds, rather than on the merits of whether the property is over-assessed. This statute, which allows a municipality to request income and expense information and requires a property owner to respond within 45 days, is... Read More
