City Council Cannot Cure Assessor’s Mistake

by: Anthony F. Della Pelle
18 Jan 2012

In Harbor Cove Marina LLC v. City of Somers Point, the Law Division of the Superior Court struck down a resolution by the City Council that increased an assessment in an attempt to cover the mistake of the City Tax Assessor.

The City Council adopted the resolution increasing the assessment after the assessor realized that one of two partially adjoining lots was under assessed for the tax year 2009.  The tax assessor placed an assessment on Lot 6 of $687,000 based on her mistaken determination that certain boat slips were on that lot, rather than the adjacent Lot 2.  The assessment on Lot 2 was correspondingly lower.  The assessor realized her mistake after the April 1st statutory deadline to file a tax appeal had passed.  In an attempt to cure the assessor’s error the City Council on December 1, 2009, adopted a resolution increasing the assessment on Lot 2 by $687,800.  The owner of Lot 2 attempted to file an appeal with the County Board of Taxation which rejected the filing as out of time.  The owner then filed an action in Superior Court seeking an order vacating the $687,800 increase in the assessment on Lot 2.  The Honorable Patrick DeAlmeida, Presiding Judge of the Tax Court, was temporarily assigned to the Law Division of the Superior Court to hear the matter.

The court held that the City Council’s resolution was not authorized by law and must be vacated.  In consideration of the Correction of Errors statute, N.J.S.A. 54:4-54, the court held that it does not authorize a change in an assessment based on an incorrect value determination.  The court also rejected the City’s arguments that N.J.S.A. 54:4-58 to -60 allows the court to relax the ordinary assessment appeals procedures finding that the defendant’s reading of these statutes contravenes legislative intent. The court ordered the City’s tax assessor to restore the assessment placed on the property prior to the adoption of the City Council’s resolution.

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