City of Jersey v. Bettcher

34 A.2d 784, 22 N.J. Misc. 16, 1943 N.J. Misc. LEXIS 64
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedNovember 15, 1943
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 34 A.2d 784 (City of Jersey v. Bettcher) 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
City of Jersey v. Bettcher, 34 A.2d 784, 22 N.J. Misc. 16, 1943 N.J. Misc. LEXIS 64 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1943).

Opinion

By the Board.

Applications have been made to the Hudson County Board of Taxation to dismiss 34 separate petitions of appeal from assessments against real property situate in the City of Jersey City upon the grounds that: (a) the City of Jersey City was without legal right to take such appeals, and (b) said petitions of appeal are not sufficient upon their face to confer jurisdiction upon the Hudson County Board of Taxation.

[18]*18Hearings upon said applications were had before this Board on October 9th and October 12th, 1943, in the presence of Commissioners Ziegener, Donovan and Wilkens, Commissioners Rosenblum and Doherty having voluntarily disqualified themselves from participation. All of the applications hereunder were consolidated at such hearings, and all determinations of law and fact are applicable to each application.

Considerable testimony was produced at the hearings by the proponents of the applications. The City of Jersey City offered no testimony in its own behalf, relying as it did upon its position that the taxpayers’ applications lack sufficiency in law. The pertinent facts do not appear to be in dispute and are supported principally by public records of the Hudson County Board of Taxation and the City of Jersey City.

On January 11th, 1943, the Jersey City assessor, in pursuance of the provisions of R. S. 54:4-35; N. J. S. A. 54:4-35, filed that taxing district’s assessment list for the year 1943 with the Hudson County Board of Taxation. The proposed real property assessments for that year, as originally submitted by the city assessor, consisted of land, $188,237,551, buildings, $243,721,776, total, $431,959,327. Thereafter, as permitted by R. S. 54:4-47; N. J. S. A. 54:4-47, the county board revised and corrected the proposed tax lists, and by resolution of March 31st, 1943, decreased the proposed real estate assessments for the year 1943 by $95,816,335. This aggregate reduction represents the toal of 34,431 separate reductions granted to individual taxpayers, the board having corrected and revised each 'of their separate assessments in the performance of its duties. Jersey City’s tax duplicate for 1943 was then gertified, as revised, by the county board, and returned to the collector of the taxing district of Jersey City,- and in July, 1943, final 1943 tax bills were forwarded to taxpayers upon the basis of the decreased assessments as revised by the county board.

Prior to the issuance of the final tax bills, and on May 18th, 1943, the Board of Commissioners of J ersey City passed a resolution in the following language:

“Besolved, that the Director of Revenue and Pinance, or his deputy, be and they hereby are authorized and directed [19]*19to take such appeals from assessments or actions of the Hudson County Board of Taxation, which effected reductions in valuations of real or personal property in the City of Jersey City for the year 1943.”

It is to be noted that this resolution was adopted subsequent to the delivery to the city collector of the certified tax lists as revised and corrected by the county board, and prior to the issuance of final 1943 tax bills by the taxing district.

Arthur Pott'erton, Director of Eevenue and Finance and Assessor of the City of Jersey City, testified that Jersey City’s 1943 tax rate, as estimated in the proposed budget, was $53.52 per thousand, but that the 1943 tax rate, as certified by the Hudson County Board of Taxation, was $57.45 per thousand. The difference between the estimated tax rate and the certified tax rate was occasioned by the revision downward of Jersey City’s proposed assessments.

On February 24th, 1943, Jersey City’s Board of Commissioners adopted the final 1943 budget by resolution which provided that said budget shall constitute “* * * an authorization of the amount of $10,167,130.89 for local purposes, and $6,766,273.94 for school purposes, to be raised by taxation * * *.” In addition, that taxing district was authorized to raise county taxes for 1943 in the sum of $6,409,028.38 (exclusive of bank stock taxes) and $1,626,-954.90 for state school taxes for the same yeai. All of the taxes authorized to be raised were calculated on the basis of the decreased total of real estate ratables, as revised, and upon the increased tax rate of $57.45 per thousand, and not upon the proposed assessment aggregates and the estimated tax rate of $53.52 per thousand. Although the Director of Eevenue and Finance of Jersey City, or his deputy, were authorized and directed to take appeals from the action of the county board revising 1943 real estate assessments downward, it is clear that no review was sought by Jersey City either by application for certiorari or by appeal to the State Board of Tax Appeals, but that the only attack against the county board’s action was made by filing 34,431 petitions of appeal with the Hudson County Board of Taxation seeking increases in each one of those assessments, part of which [20]*20.are the direct subject-matter of these applications. Each of the 34,431 petitions is identical in form and alleges an assessment, “at which assessment your petitioner (City of Jersey City) feels discriminated against for the reason that said .assessment is below the true value of said property as of November 10th, 1942.” Each petition concludes with the •following prayer:

“Your petitioner therefore prays that the said assessment for the year 1943 be increased to the true value of the said ■property as of November 10, 1942, to wit: Land $...... Building $...... Total $.......”

Among other things, the City of Jersey City urges that the county board has no power or jurisdiction to hear motions .and that it has no right to extend its hearing beyond the value of property, the assessment of which is the subject-matter of appeal. This contention is without merit. All courts are empowered to determine the extent of their own .jurisdiction, and this has been extended to gmsi-judieial bodies. See Oradell v. State Board of Tax Appeals, 125 N. J. L. 37; 13 Atl. Rep. (2d) 479. We therefore turn to a consideration of the application upon the merits.

As heretofore noted, the City of Jersey City, prior to the filing of the subject appeals, prepared and delivered' 1943 final tax bills and proceeded to make collections thereon. ’Those tax bills are admittedly predicated upon decreased realty assessments and an increased tax rate of $57.45 per thousand dollars of valuation.

Computation of the municipal tax rate does not involve the exercise of discretion by the county board. The rate is determined by mathematical calculation, and the result is reached on the one hand, by the sum of money authorized to be raised by taxation in the municipal budget and by state and county requirements, and on the other hand, by the aggregate ratables or assessments certified- by the county 'board. Thus, an increase or decrease in ratables after final adoption of the budget will, of necessity, increase or decrease the tax rate in direct proportion.

Jersey City’s 1943 assessments were revised downward, and ■ certified and returned to that taxing district by April 1st. [21]*21The tax rate was fixed on April 9th by resolution of the ■county board. The tax bills were sent out in July. The 34,431 petitions, including the subject appeals, were filed shortly before August 15th, after taxpayers had been billed, and collections made, on the basis of the increased tax rate.

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34 A.2d 784, 22 N.J. Misc. 16, 1943 N.J. Misc. LEXIS 64, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-jersey-v-bettcher-njtaxct-1943.