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What Beavan v. Allergan Means for the Reliability of Evidence in Eminent Domain Cases
Judges act as gatekeepers between expert opinions and the jury box. When they let unreliable testimony through, jurors can reach conclusions that have little to do with the facts. A recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision, Beavan v. Allergan U.S.A., Inc., sharpens that gatekeeping duty and raises the bar for how courts test the reliability... Read More
Georgia Power’s Eminent Domain Fight Over AI Data Centers: What It Means for Property Owners
A Georgia Power eminent domain dispute is making national headlines, and it has little to do with roads or schools. Instead, it centers on a wave of new electric transmission lines built to feed several massive AI data centers outside Atlanta. Hundreds of homeowners now face a question that property owners everywhere are starting to... Read More
Oklahoma Legislators seek to Redefine “Just Compensation” with Proposed Bill
A bill introduced by Oklahoma lawmakers would require condemnors to provide additional compensation to property owners when property is taken through eminent domain. Under current law, property owners are entitled only to the fair market value of the taken property. The proposed measure, House Bill 3758, would significantly alter how that compensation is calculated. An... Read More
Maui Seeks to Mitigate Future Wildfire Damage Through Property Buyback Program
The smoke has long cleared from the devastating 2023 Lahaina wildfire, but the path to a full recovery remains uncertain and far from complete. Thankfully, Maui County is taking a proactive approach to mitigating wildfire damage through public policy measures. One such measure is a property buyback program. The program would allow qualifying landowners to... Read More
Condemnees Successfully Challenge City of Nanticoke’s Use of Eminent Domain
The Pennsylvania City of Nanticoke tried using its power of eminent domain to take private property so it could develop a multi-purpose building. To say that its plan backfired would be an understatement. Not only did Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court deny the City’s right to take, but its decision imposes more restrictions on eminent domain. Here’s... Read More
New Jersey Tops the Property Tax Charts—Again!
Just as we approach the April 1 filing deadline for 2026 property tax appeals in most New Jersey towns, the Garden State has, yet again, been crowned with having the highest property taxes in the country. If that sounds familiar, it’s not déjà vu. For more than a decade, the state has held onto this... Read More
Why Some States Want to Abolish Property Taxes: What It Means for Homeowners
For millions of homeowners across the country, rising property tax bills have gone from annoying to completely unaffordable. Some states have decided enough is enough and are now pushing to abolish property taxes altogether. It’s a bold idea, and it comes with serious trade-offs. Here’s what’s driving the push, which states are leading the charge,... Read More
New Jersey Office Tax Assessments – Declining Market May Actually Signal Increased Taxes
New Jersey office property owners may be facing increasing property taxes even as market values decline. Many properties in the state were assessed before COVID-19, and those outdated assessments may now be adversely impacted by New Jersey’s “Chapter 123” equalization methodology. Because municipalities use a single equalization ratio for all property types, dramatic changes in... Read More
What the Normandy Beach NJ Tax Court Fight Means for Property Owners
A quiet dispute over beach access has turned into a multimillion-dollar fight in front of the NJ Tax Court. The case involves a Brick Township couple, a private beach association, and two towns with very different opinions about what a stretch of oceanfront land is worth. For property owners across New Jersey, this case is... Read More
Balancing Private Property Rights and Public Development
In most free countries, the right to own and control private property is a foundational principle. It underpins economic freedom, personal autonomy, and the ability to build wealth across generations. Yet, this right isn’t absolute. Governments retain eminent domain power—the authority to seize private property for public development projects, provided “just compensation” is given. The... Read More
