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At about 3:30 p.m. on March 31, the local property tax filing season is almost finished for the year. However, the door isn’t completely closed. Since April 1 falls on a Saturday this year, that means there is a weekend ahead, and last minute filers can scramble to get their petitions or complaints in on Monday, April 3, 2017.

There are also many municipalities that have conducted reassessments or revaluations, where you can file an appeal as late as May 1, 2017. If you’re not sure about the deadline for your municipality, feel free to send me an email and I’ll be happy to check it for you. 

Of course, if you own property in Monmouth County, you have an entirely different situation. If your assessment is $1,000,000 or less, your chance to appeal for 2017

N.J.S.A. 54:4-34, the statute commonly known as Chapter 91, is a tool in the municipal assessor’s repertoire to gather data to set assessments. If a taxpayer fails to respond properly, the appeal is subject to dismissal, subject only to a summary hearing to test the ‘reasonableness’ of the assessment, unless good cause is shown which excuses the taxpayer’s failure to provide the information in the time allotted by the statute. A recent case raises the question again of what does or does not constitute ‘good cause’ for failing to respond to the assessor’s information request.

In Golden Eagle Foundation, Inc. v. Borough of Highland Park, an unpublished opinion issued on December 30, 2016, the Tax Court questioned whether ‘good cause’ existed for a taxpayer to