Gibbons Law Alert
This article is the second in a series that deals with the legal implications of Superstorm Sandy, which devastated many areas of New Jersey on October 29, 2012. Owners of property with a structure that has suffered substantial damage or that has been destroyed should be aware that they may qualify for a lower property tax assessment, which may result in lower property taxes next year.
In United Parcel Service v. Secaucus, UPS failed to properly respond to a request for information as to income and expenses made by the tax assessor pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-34, universally known as a “Chapter 91 request.” Later, when UPS brought an action in the Tax Court to challenge its 2011 assessment, the assessor moved to have the action dismissed due to UPS’s failure to properly respond to the Chapter 91 request. This is what a tax assessor typically does in these circumstances because the statute is clear that the failure of the owner to respond to a Chapter 91 request within 45 days is an absolute bar to the right to bring an appeal of the assessment.
The deadline to file real estate tax appeals in New Jersey to challenge the assessment of real property is April 1 (or 45 days from the bulk mailing of assessment notices, whichever is later). Given widespread declines in market values in recent years, there may be an opportunity for property owners — particularly owners of multifamily, commercial and industrial property — to reduce their assessments, and hence their property taxes, by filing a tax appeal.