New Jersey Tax Court Doubles Assessment of Duplex After Default

A New Jersey city convinced the state tax court to more than double the property tax assessment on a duplex after the owner failed to defend its claims of undervaluation.

The decision arose as a “reverse/increase tax appeal” in which Jersey City argued the original assessment was discriminatory because the property owner owes less than its proportionate share of the municipal tax burden. “The court acknowledges that historically, there are very few reverse/increase tax appeals filed by municipalities,” but such suits have been on the rise since 2012, Judge Mary Siobhan Brennan wrote Sept. 19 in an unpublished opinion. ...