Skytop Gardens, Inc. v. Borough of Sayreville

3 N.J. Tax 187
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedAugust 14, 1981
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 3 N.J. Tax 187 (Skytop Gardens, Inc. v. Borough of Sayreville) 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
Skytop Gardens, Inc. v. Borough of Sayreville, 3 N.J. Tax 187 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1981).

Opinion

ANDREW, J. T. C.

In this local property tax proceeding, plaintiff-taxpayer seeks a reduction in its assessment for the tax years of 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979. Plaintiff urges that its local property tax assessment is incorrect not only because it is in excess of fair market value but also because it is at a level or ratio to true value higher than the common level of assessments within the taxing district.

The subject property is identified as three separate parcels on the tax map of the taxing district. These are Block 449G, Lots 4, 4A and 4B. The assessments for 1976 and 1977, which were affirmed by the Middlesex County Board of Taxation, were as follows:

Block 449G, Lot 4

Land $ 93,900

Improvements 2,910,200

Total $3,004,100

Block 449G, Lot 4A

Land $ 103,600

Total $2,883,600

Block 449G, Lot 4B

Land $ 207,000

Improvements 4,677,000

Total $4,884,000

[191]*191Sayreville conducted a revaluation which was made effective for 1978. As a result of the revaluation the assessments for 1978 and 1979, which were affirmed by the county board, were as follows:

Land $ 720,000

Improvements 3.397.000

Total $4,117,000

Land $ 672,000

Improvements 3,173.500

Total $3,845,500

Land $1,128,000

Improvements 5,026.500

Total $6,154,500

At the outset of the trial it was understood that the three lots constituted a single economic unit and therefore would be valued as one parcel. The expert appraiser for each party estimated value in this manner.

For convenience, then, the assessments were considered in combination as follows:

1976-1977

Land $ 404,500

Improvements 10.367,200

Total $10,771,700

1978-1979

Land $ 2,520,000

Improvements 11.597.000

Total $14,117,000

The subject of this litigation is a garden apartment complex consisting of 840 units. This complex is located on Ernston Road near State Highway Route 9 in Sayreville. The site contains approximately 44 acres.

The improvements, approximately 15 years old, consist of 200 two-bedroom and 640 one-bedroom apartments. Every apart[192]*192ment has a refrigerator, electric range and air conditioner. There are no garages but ample open parking exists. Also located on the site is a swimming pool and laundry equipment available on a concession basis. It was indicated by both parties that the improvements are in an overall good condition and are well maintained.

Sayreville does have a rent control ordinance and during the tax years involved in this matter rental increases were limited to one-half of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index up to a maximum of 5% annually. The percentage increase did exceed 5% in one year, and for that year, pursuant to the rent control ordinance, vacancy decontrol was in effect.

There was no dispute as to the value of the land. Taxpayer’s expert accepted the land value established during the revaluation year of 1978 as accurately reflecting the land value for all tax years involved in this proceeding. As indicated by taxpayer’s expert, the overall land valuation of $2,520,000 represented $3,000 per unit ($3,000 X 840 = $2,520,000), which he felt was an accurate estimation of value. This land value was. not questioned by the taxing district; its expert did not even attempt to value the land separately. Therefore, I will accept the value of $2,520,000 as constituting land value for all tax years involved. See Middlesex Builders v. Old Bridge Tp., 1 N.J.Tax 305, 308 (Tax Ct.1980); Fourth Fairland, Inc. v. Hazlet Tp., 1 N.J.Tax 254, 263 (Tax Ct.1980).

Valuation

Each party relied upon the testimony of one expert to establish the value of the subject. Both experts offered their opinions of value based exclusively on the income approach to valuation. Taxpayer’s expert estimated the value of the subject for each tax year. His values were $10,200,000 for 1976, $10,-400,000 for 1977, $10,250,000 for 1978 and $10,200,000 for 1979. Borough’s expert, contrary to N.J.S.A. 54:4-23, did not estimate value as of October 1 of each pretax year but instead valued the subject as of December 31, 1978 at $12,639,000. Because the expert did not explain the use of this valuation date, this court [193]*193can only surmise that this value estimate represented value for the tax year 1979. He stated that he could not conclude a value for the prior years of 1976, 1977 and 1978 because he did not “have any of the pertinent data” for those years.

Therefore, this court is required to determine the proper valuation of the subject based solely on the value estimates submitted by plaintiff for each tax year, with supporting data and a value estimate submitted by defendant for the nonassessment date of December 31, 1978 (presumably for tax year 1979) and the data submitted in support of such value estimation.

As previously stated, taxpayer’s expert relied exclusively on an economic approach for his value conclusion. For all of the years under consideration, he calculated the gross rent potential as of October 1 of each year preceding the tax year. He estimated and deducted a vacancy and collection loss factor of 2Wo to which he added the actual receipts for laundry commissions, the pool and miscellaneous income.

Utilizing stabilized and actual expenses for each of the tax years, he estimated total expenses of 32.1% of gross income for 1976, 32.2% for 1977, 35.2% for 1978 and 35.5% for 1979. The deduction of these expenses yielded net operating incomes of $1,346,400 for 1976, $1,402,737 for 1977, $1,395,019 for 1978 and $1,443,097 for 1979. Taxpayer’s expert then applied a building residual method to arrive at the heretofore-stated values of $10,200,000 for 1976, $10,400,000 for 1977, $10,250,000 for 1978 and $10,200,000 for 1979. His capitalization rate for 1976 consisted of an 8.5% interest rate, a 3% recapture rate and an effective tax rate of 2.43%, for a total rate of 13.93%. His capitalization rate changed in 1977 and 1978 to a total rate of 14.23%, which reflected his opinion that the return on investment should be 9% and the change in the effective tax rate. For 1979, the return on investment rate was increased to 9.5%. Considering this change and the difference in the effective tax rate, taxpayer’s expert utilized a total 1979 rate of 14.91%.

Borough’s expert began his economic analysis with an average of the actual gross receipts of the taxpayer for the years of [194]*1941976, 1977 and 1978. No vacancy factor was used because he used actual receipts as opposed to potential gross rent. Thereafter, he deducted expenses of 32.41% based on actual expense figures incurred by the taxpayer, which the expert stabilized by considering what he felt were reasonable allowances and using income and expense analyses for apartments in general provided by the Institute of Real Estate Management as a check. The expert then applied a total capitalization rate of 11.6548% to arrive at his estimated value of $12,639,000.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

42 Broadway LLC v. Paterson City
New Jersey Tax Court, 2025
Omari, Omar v. Paterson City
New Jersey Tax Court, 2024
Jay Jay Improvement v. Elizabeth
New Jersey Tax Court, 2017
Dresser Industries Inc. v. Town of Harrison
12 N.J. Tax 159 (New Jersey Tax Court, 1991)
Maple Court Associates Ltd. v. Township of Ridgefield Park
7 N.J. Tax 135 (New Jersey Tax Court, 1984)
Lawrence Associates v. Lawrence Township
5 N.J. Tax 481 (New Jersey Tax Court, 1983)
Skytop Gardens, Inc. v. Borough of Sayreville
5 N.J. Tax 478 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 1983)
Red Devil, Inc. v. Union Township
5 N.J. Tax 1 (New Jersey Tax Court, 1982)
Jefferson House Investment Co. v. Chatham Borough
4 N.J. Tax 669 (New Jersey Tax Court, 1982)
Rudd v. Township of Cranford
4 N.J. Tax 236 (New Jersey Tax Court, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
3 N.J. Tax 187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/skytop-gardens-inc-v-borough-of-sayreville-njtaxct-1981.