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The Cost Approach: Hard Costs vs. Soft Costs in the Context of Tax Appeals
New home constructions often require that the property tax assessment which is then placed on a property be carefully examined. Generally, property assessments for the following year are set forth by the municipal assessor on October 1. However, if an improvement of a structure is completed after the regular assessment date of October 1, and... Read More
PennEast Pipeline Under Appeal to Federal Circuit Court of Appeal
On August 10, 2018, FERC issued an Order Denying Requests for Rehearing on its grant of a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to PennEast Pipeline, LLC.2018-8-10 FERC Order Denying Rehearing. On August 13, 2018, New Jersey Conservation Foundation and Delaware Riverkeeper appealed. FERC issued its Certificate for the PennEast Pipeline in January of this... Read More
Catch 22: Court to Reexamine Williamson County and Federal Fifth Amendment Taking Rights
In Knick v. Scott, the United States Supreme Court will be analyzing a local ordinance adopted by the Township of Scott, Pennsylvania, which provides public access to cemetery properties. According to the ordinance, even if the cemetery is on private property, the property owner must allow public access onto the property to permit the public... Read More
Not Timely Enough: Township’s Chapter 91 Motion to Dismiss Denied after Request Sent too Late
Chapter 91 has proved to be an effective tool for municipalities to protect themselves from tax appeals. Chapter 91 provides that when a municipality sends a request for income and expense information to a property owner pursuant to the statute, the owner must respond within forty-five days. If the property owner does not respond within... Read More
Doughnut and Coffee With Reversal and Remand
The Appellate Division reversed and remanded a decision of the Tax Court that affirmed the assessment on a Dunkin Donuts property in the City of Elizabeth. The appellate court found that the lower court erred by relying on evidence not in the record. Plaintiff’s appraiser utilized the income capitalization approach to appraise the property. In... Read More
“I Don’t Remember Sending It but Probably Did”…Works to Defeat Chapter 91 Dismissal Motion
We recently summarized Gamma-Upsilon Alumni Ass’n of Kappa Sigma, Inc. v. City of New Brunswick, a case in which the plaintiff’s tax appeal was dismissed due to its failure to respond to the assessor’s request for income and expense Information, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 54:4-34 (commonly known as “Chapter 91”). Chapter 91 provides that a... Read More
Fraternity’s creative arguments no match for Chapter 91
Perhaps not since Otter’s impassioned plea to keep Delta House from being kicked off campus in the 1978 classic movie, Animal House, has a fraternity presented such a creative argument. Of course, in Gamma-Upsilon Alumni Ass’n of Kappa Sigma, Inc. v. City of New Brunswick, a recent published opinion of the New Jersey Tax Court, seasoned... Read More
Pro Se Redevelopment Challenges Unsuccessful in Union City
Two recent Appellate Division cases rejected the arguments of a pro se party challenging Union City’s efforts to redevelop “blighted areas”. Both cases are captioned Larry Price v. Union City. The first opinion issued on December 21, 2017 and the second February 13, 2018. Links to the full text are below. Price v Union City... Read More
Will it be strike 3 for cost estimating software in the NJ Tax Court? Stay tuned.
In a recent decision, ML Plainsboro Ltd Partnership v. Township of Plainsboro, the Presiding Judge of the New Jersey Tax Court denied a taxpayer’s motion to strike the opinion of the municipality’s appraiser who relied upon cost estimating software to determine reproduction costs as part of a cost approach analysis. While this would appear to... Read More
Two Different Taxpayers Prove Value and Score at Trial
Two recent Tax Court valuation trials have resulted in favorable outcomes for the taxpayer. First, in the trial of 416 Route 10 Associates v. East Hanover, plaintiff’s expert deliberately made no adjustments to his comparable leases in the expert’s income approach. Plaintiff’s expert reasoned that numerical adjustments simply led to more rigorous cross-examination so the... Read More
