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Omitted Assessment Tossed — “Error” in Setting Value Not an Erroneous Omission
New Jersey’s omitted assessment law allows a municipal tax assessor to go back one year in the event an assessment on a property was inadvertently omitted from the tax rolls (Yes, it does happen. I once had a client that owned an office building that was assessed at over $4 million for which the assessment was simply... Read More
“Hotel for Pets” Is Deemed Not Income-Producing
The Township had a bone to pick with plaintiffs who filed appeals of a property that consisted of a pet boarding kennel. In Pittius v. Old Bridge Twp., the subject property consisted of one residential improvement and another improvement which consisted of a boarding kennel for animals. The property is classified as a 4A (commercial)... Read More
Property Owner’s Second Bite at the Apple Not So Tasty as the First
A New Jersey appellate court just affirmed the denial of property owner’s challenge to a condemnation premised on a failure of pre-complaint bona fide negotiations. Montclair v Cerino 2017 a0753-15. The Township of Montclair had previously commenced a condemnation action to acquire a property along Valley Road that was used by the property owner to store... Read More
Rite Aid Goes the Wrong Way In Tax Appeal
In a recent opinion the New Jersey Tax Court affirmed the assessment on a Rite Aid pharmacy for tax years 2009 and 2010 after rejecting every aspect of the testimony offered by its appraiser. The Court found that the appraiser for the Borough of Roselle offered a more credible opinion of value. Rite Aid’s appraiser... Read More
Property Owners Protest Penn East Pipeline at Delaware RiverKeeper Meeting
Legions of property owners turned out in opposition to the proposed Penn East Natural Gas pipeline at the at the quarterly meeting of Delaware River Basin Commission. Reported here. The general comments were consist with those of Doug O’Malleym director of Environment New Jersey: “PennEast is trying to peddle a pipeline to the residents of... Read More
Taxpayers’ Reliance on MLS to Find Market Value Rejected
A real property trial was held in Reznick v. Twp. of Marlboro wherein plaintiffs challenged their residential property tax assessment. Plaintiffs had initially filed to the Monmouth County Board of Taxation which reduced the assessment from $909,000 down to $862,000. Plaintiff thereafter appealed to the Tax Court seeking a reduction of the assessment to $800,000.... Read More
Property Tax Exemption Not Dependent Upon Frequency of Use
Recently, the plaintiff in Holy Trinity Baptist Church v. Trenton successfully voided an added assessment imposed by the City and also retained its property’s tax exemption for the entire property. The property at issue was two-story building in Trenton being used for charitable and religious purposes. The first floor was used for services, prayer meetings,... Read More
Borough’s Challenge to Change Assessment Unsuccessful
The Borough of Bergenfield filed appeals to the Tax Court challenging the judgments of the Bergen County Board of Taxation which reduced the assessments on two properties in tax year 2013. Dissatisfied with the county board’s decisions, the Borough took the appeals to the Tax Court and a trial was held in both cases. In... Read More
Challenge to Redevelopment Action Decades After Finding of Blight Denied
The Appellate Division recently analyzed an old blight designation in Ocean County in a January 18, 2017 opinion. You may have to read it more than once to understand the convoluted fact pattern. Or, you may want to skip ahead to the legal analysis because it is short and to the point. Two tracts... Read More
To Survive in NJ Tax Court – Forget Trust, Just Verify
In yet another opinion affirming a local property tax assessment, the New Jersey Tax Court found insufficient data upon which it could make a determination of value. In the unreported decision of VBV Realty LLC v. Scotch Plains Township, issued earlier this month (for copy of decision click here), the court considered a challenge to... Read More
