CITY OF NEWARK VS. TOWNSHIP OF JEFFERSON (TAX COURT OF NEW JERSEY) (A-1303-19T1)
The tax court entered an October 18, 2019 judgment affirming tax assessments on approximately 4036 acres of watershed land owned by plaintiff City of Newark situated in defendant Township of Jefferson for the tax years 2009 to 2019. City of Newark v. Twp. of Jefferson, 31 N.J. Tax 303, 311-18 (Tax 2019). Rejecting the expert testimony of both parties' appraisers, the tax court found while plaintiff may have overcome the presumption of the correctness of the assessments, it failed to maintain its burden of proof to modify the assessments.
This court reversed, holding the assessment was defective and not entitled to the presumption of validity because it was primarily based on a settlement discussion rather than the value of the property. The assessment was also problematic because the assessor relied on another sale he failed to verify. The tax court made no findings regarding the validity of the assessment methodology and the record does not support its validity. The court remanded the matter for reconsideration and further findings on this issue and directed the tax court to make an independent finding of the value of the property for tax purposes.
