Mount Laurel Township v. Burlington County Board of Taxation

25 N.J. Tax 319
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedDecember 15, 2009
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 25 N.J. Tax 319 (Mount Laurel Township v. Burlington County Board of Taxation) 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
Mount Laurel Township v. Burlington County Board of Taxation, 25 N.J. Tax 319 (N.J. Super. Ct. 2009).

Opinion

MENYUK, J.T.C.

Mount Laurel Township (“Township”) challenges an order of the Burlington County Board of Taxation (“Board”) entered on May 19, 2008, directing the Township to implement a municipal-wide revaluation to be completed by September 30, 2009, to be effective for the 2010 tax year. Both parties have moved for summary judgment. For the following reasons, both motions are [321]*321denied, and the matter is remanded to the Board for findings of fact and conclusions of law.

The May 19, 2008 revaluation order found that the ratio of assessed value to true value for the Township was 50.75 percent and the general coefficient of deviation was 8.63. The order concluded that this statistical pattern reflected an assessment pattern for the Township which lacked uniformity and which did not conform to the assessment standard of 100 percent of true value established by the Board. The order also concluded that the Township assessments resulted in an unequal distribution of the tax burden within the Township.

Following its adoption by the Board, the order was reviewed and approved by the Director, Division of Taxation (“Director”), as required by N.J.S.A. 54:3-16. See also Bergen County Board of Taxation v. Borough of Bogota, 104 N.J.Super. 499, 250 A.2d 440 (Law Div.1969), aff'd, 114 N.J.Super. 140, 275 A.2d 158 (App.Div. 1971) (county tax board’s order directing the revaluation of a municipality must be approved by the Director). As approved, the order was served on the Township by letter dated June 18, 2008. The Township’s complaint seeking a judgment vacating the Board’s order was filed on August 6, 2008. The court thereafter denied the Township’s motion to vacate the order on the ground that the Board lacked a quorum when it entered the order. Hainesport Twp. v. Burlington Cty. Bd. of Taxation, 25 N. J.Tax 138 (2009), 2009 N.J.Tax Lexis 24 (Tax April 1, 2009). For reasons set forth in a subsequent bench opinion, the court also denied a motion to amend the complaint to add an allegation that the Board had failed to maintain minutes of the May 19, 2008 meeting in violation of N.J.S.A 10:4-14, a section of the Open Public Meetings Act, N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 to -21. The motion was denied principally on the ground that it was untimely. See N.J.S.A. 10:4-15a (an action taken in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act is voidable in a proceeding brought in lieu of prerogative writ within forty-five days of the action sought to be voided). In connection with that motion, the Board did come forward with minutes of the May 19, 2008 meeting. The minutes noted that the Board had reviewed and signed the revaluation [322]*322order for the Township along with revaluation orders for four other municipalities, but did not provide any further basis for the Board’s action.

In this motion, the Township attacks the order on its merits, contending that the Board acted arbitrarily, capriciously, and unreasonably in determining that the Township should conduct a revaluation. It contends that the court may not go beyond the four corners of the record which consists solely of the revaluation order itself, and that the ratio of assessed to trae valuation and the coefficient of deviation are not sufficient to support the Board’s order to revalue. It also argues that there are insufficient grounds to order a revaluation even if the court considers additional data the Board claims to have considered.

The Board maintains that the two criteria explicitly referred to in the order are sufficient to demonstrate that the Board’s actions were not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. The Board further asserts: that it considered other criteria set forth in N.J.A.C. 18:12A-1.14 that were not reflected in the order and which indicate that a revaluation of the Township is warranted; that the Director considered the criteria of N.J.A.C. 18:12A-1.14 in approving the Board’s order; and that the Board therefore reasonably determined that the Township should conduct a revaluation.

N.J.A.C. 18:12A-1.14(b) provides that, when deciding whether a municipality should conduct a revaluation, a county board of taxation “shall” consider twelve criteria that are set out in the regulation. The Board may also consider other criteria that may indicate the need for a revaluation. Id. The Board’s findings “and all other bases for issuing a revaluation order” are to be appended to its order when the order is submitted to the Director for her approval. Id.

In Borough of Totowa v. Passaic County Board of Taxation, 23 N.J.Tax 466, 470-71 (2007), Judge Kuskin described the twelve criteria prescribed by N.J.A.C. 18:12A-1.14(b) as follows:

1. The general coefficient of deviation, defined in the regulation as “an average deviation from the average assessment sales ratio expressed as a percentage of average assessment ratio for each taxing district, for all properties included in [323]*323‘usable sales.’” As to this criterion, the regulation states: “A coefficient of deviation greater than 15 percent generally indicates a need for revaluation. If it is 15 percent or less, then other factors must also be used to justify a need for revaluation”;
2. The stratified coefficient of deviation, defined in the regulation as “an average deviation of assessment sales ratios for all usable sales of each property class from the average assessment ratio for the class.” The regulation provides that, if the stratified coefficient is greater than 15 percent, this may indicate a need for revaluation;
3. The segmented coefficient of deviation, defined in the regulation as “an average deviation of assessment sales ratios for all ‘usable sales’ of each property class from the average assessment ratio for all properties of all classes expressed as a percentage average assessment ratio for all properties of all classes.” The regulation provides that, if this ratio exceeds 15 percent, this may indicate a need for revaluation;
4. The size of the sales sampling used in calculating the coefficient of deviation;
5. The ratio promulgated by the Director of the Division of Taxation pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:1-35.1. As to this criterion, the regulation states that: “A Director’s Ratio of 85 percent or lower generally denotes noncompliance where, as is the norm, the adopted percentage level of assessment established by the county board of taxation is 100 percent”;
6. Individual “assessment-sales” ratios;
7. Weighted ratios for property classes;
8. District weighted ratios;
9. Neighborhood and zoning changes;
10. A lack of adequate records maintained by the assessor;
11. The last year of revaluation or reassessments. As to this criterion, the regulation states that: “If a revaluation or reassessment has not taken place in a municipality for 10 years or more, this can be a factor in ordering a revaluation”; and
12.

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25 N.J. Tax 479 (New Jersey Tax Court, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
25 N.J. Tax 319, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mount-laurel-township-v-burlington-county-board-of-taxation-njtaxct-2009.