Boardwalk Properties v. City of Atlantic City

5 N.J. Tax 192
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedFebruary 3, 1983
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 5 N.J. Tax 192 (Boardwalk Properties v. City of Atlantic City) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boardwalk Properties v. City of Atlantic City, 5 N.J. Tax 192 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1983).

Opinion

RIMM, J.T.C.

This local property tax matter involves the propriety of an omitted assessment placed on defendant’s assessment rolls for Block 38, Lot 3. For the tax year 1980 the regular assessment was:

Land $ 150,000

Improvements -0-

Total $ 150,000

Thereafter there was an omitted assessment in the amount of $853,300 for the improvements, and a judgment in that amount was entered for the omitted assessment by the Atlantic County Board of Taxation on December 31,1981. The result was a total assessment of $1,003,300 for the tax year 1980.

The taxpayer filed a complaint in this court seeking judgment declaring the omitted assessment null and void because the property was included in the regular assessment list for the tax year 1980 and hence, the taxpayer argues, is not subject to an omitted assessment. In the alternative, the taxpayer seeks a reduction in the assessment based on valuation and discrimination.

The taxpayer has moved for summary judgment striking the omitted assessment. In support of its motion an affidavit was submitted by counsel stating that she verified the assessment records of the city for 1980 and found an original assessment for land only for that tax year in the amount of $150,000. A second affidavit, by the president of the taxpayer corporation, states that the taxpayer paid 1980 taxes based on the original assessment of $150,000. His affidavit states that as of October 1,1979 the only construction on the subject property was “some steel framing.” As of the date of the affidavit, June 9, 1982, “the only construction on Block 38, Lot 3 is some steel framing, concrete blocks and floor slab.” The affidavit also states: “At [194]*194no time from October 1,1979 until the present has the construction on Block 38, Lot 3, been substantially complete or ready for its intended use.”

The taxpayer argues that since the subject property was on the taxing district’s assessment rolls as of October 1, 1979 for the tax year 1980, the omitted assessment “is nothing more than an attempt to revalue property on which a final assessment had previously been made.”

N.J.S.A. 54:4-23 provides that all real property shall be assessed to the owner on October 1 in each year. The assessor is required to determine

... the full and fair value of each parcel of real property situate in the taxing district at such price as, in his judgment, it would sell for at a fair and bona fide sale by private contract on October 1 next preceding the date on which the assessor shall complete his assessments....

N.J.S.A. 54:4-35 provides that the assessor shall complete the preparation of his assessment list as of the following January 10. The assessments are to indicate a separate taxable value for the land and a separate taxable value for the buildings and improvements. The sum of such separate values are the assessed value of the parcel. N.J.S.A. 54:4-26.

Once the assessment has been fixed by the assessor and reviewed by the county board of taxation, N.J.S.A. 54:4-46 and 47, it is subject to appeal by either the taxpayer or the taxing district to the county board of taxation. N.J.S.A. 54:3-21. A petition of appeal must be filed with the county board of taxation by August 15 of the tax year except that either party may appeal directly to the Tax Court by August 15 if the assessed valuation exceeds $750,000.

Omitted assessments are governed by N.J.S.A. 54:4-63.12, which provides that a county board of taxation may “assess any taxable property omitted from the assessment [list] for the particular year.” An alternate method for the assessment of omitted property provides that the assessor may “assess any taxable property omitted from the assessment list for the particular years.” N.J.S.A. 54:4-63.31. See Atlantic City Develop. Corp. v. Hamilton Tp., 3 N.J.Tax 363 (Tax Ct.1981).

[195]*195Plaintiff contends that the present omitted assessment contravenes the statutory provisions establishing the appeal process, N.J.S.A. 54:3-21, and the right of the taxpayer “to rely on the finality of the original assessment for the tax year 1980.” See, generally, Salem v. Salem Cty. Bd. of Tax., 1 N.J.Tax 462, 464 (Tax Ct.1980) (“the importance of providing some point at which decisions become final”) and Galloway Tp. v. Petkevis, 2 N.J.Tax 85 (Tax Ct.1980) (strict time limitations for tax matters).

The taxpayer argues that the plain language of the omitted assessment statute is not susceptible of interpretation. It contends that the property was not omitted from the 1980 regular assessment list because there was a $150,000 land assessment for that year. The purpose of the omitted assessment law, taxpayer further argues, is to provide for the taxation of property which, through error, has been omitted from assessment. Citing Snyder v. S. Plainfield, 1 N.J.Tax 3 (Tax Ct.1980), plaintiff contends that the omitted assessment statute cannot be used when there already is an assessment for the property.

The city defends its actions on the basis of an affidavit of its assessor which states that as of October 1, 1979, for the tax year 1980, there were structural improvements existing on the subject property, and the assessment should have included a partial assessment. He then states:

The assessment which was originally reflected was not the result of any preconceived design to assess the improvements at 0 value. The Board of Assessors of the City of Atlantic City must assess approximately 14,000 line items each year and must work with a limited staff to achieve this result. It is most difficult to ensure (sic) that, despite every effort, each and every line item is properly assessed and therefore the possibility of an omitted assessment, such as this, does exist.

He concludes by saying that the placing of an omitted assessment on the property was not an attempt to single out the taxpayer for treatment different from that accorded other taxpayers. The city has made omitted assessments in other instances in which improvements were under construction but for which construction a partial assessment was omitted. A deposition of the assessor in which he says essentially the same thing is also before the court.

[196]*196The city also cites Snyder v. South Plainfield in support of its position, but relies primarily on N.Y. State Realty & Terminal Co. Appeal, 21 N.J. 90, 121 A.2d 21 (1956).

While Snyder seemingly supports the city’s position, the issue of the propriety of an omitted partial assessment was not specifically addressed by Judge Andrew in that case. The taxpayer’s “sole contention” there was that the “Freeze Act,” N.J.S.A. 54:3-26, should apply to judgments of the Middlesex County Board of Taxation “remitting” the added assessments on the property on the basis that no certificates of occupancy had been issued for the property. The court held that the Freeze Act did not apply to the county board of taxation judgment “remitting the added assessments, since the value of the improvements were not therein at issue.” 1 N.J.Tax 3, 10 (Tax Ct.1980).

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Bluebook (online)
5 N.J. Tax 192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boardwalk-properties-v-city-of-atlantic-city-njtaxct-1983.