MONMOUTH COUNTY BOARD OF TAXATION PETITION OF APPEAL

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PREPARING PETITION OF APPEAL
1. FILING DATE
(a) Your appeal must be received (not merely postmarked) by the Monmouth County Board of Taxation on or before April 1 of the tax year. An appeal received after the close of business hours 5:00 PM) on April 1 is untimely filed and will result in dismissal of the appeal. If the last day for filing an appeal falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the last day shall be extended to the first succeeding business day. YOU CAN APPEAL YOUR PROPERTY TAXES IN ANY GIVEN YEAR. THIS DATE IS FOR APPEALING YOUR REGULAR TAX BILL, NOT A REVALUATION AS DESCRIBED IN 1.b, BELOW.
(b) A taxpayer shall have 45 days to file an appeal upon issuance of a Notification of Change of assessment.
(c) In the case where the municipality fails for any reason to mail or deliver a notification of assessment or a change in assessment, an extension to file an appeal may be granted. Written application must be made to the County Board for the extension and approved by the Director of the Division of Taxation.

2. SEPARATE APPEALS
Separate appeals must be filed for each taxed parcel unless prior written approval is granted by the Monmouth County Tax Administrator.

3. FILING OF PETITION
(a) The original petition must be filed with the Monmouth County Board of Taxation. (White Copy)
(b) A copy must be served upon the Assessor of the municipality in which the property is located, or, in the event of a municipal appeal, served upon the taxpayer. (Yellow Copy)
(c) A copy must be served upon the Clerk of the municipality in which the property is located, or in the event of a municipal appeal, served upon the taxpayer. (Pink Copy)
(d) A copy should be retained by the petitioner. (Gold Copy)
(e) Any supporting documents attached to the original petition shall also be attached to the Assessor's and Clerk's copies.

4. FILING FEES (Must accompany original petition of appeal) Check or money order. (No cash)
I. Assessed Valuation less than $150,000 $5.00

$150,000 or more, but less than $500,000 $25.00

$500,000 or more, but less than $1,000,000 $100.00

$1,000,000 or more $150.00

II. Appeal on Classification $25.00

III. Appeal on Valuation and Classification Sum of I and II

IV. Appeal not covered by I, II, or III $25.00

No fee is required to file a petition contesting denial of application for Veteran's and Veteran's/Serviceman's/Servicewoman's/Surviving Spouse deduction, Senior Citizen's or Disabled person's deduction.
Check is to be made payable to: Monmouth County Tax Administrator.

5. PAYMENT OF REAL ESTATE TAXES ON APPEAL N.J.S.A. 54:3-27 provides that a taxpayer who shall file an appeal from an assessment shall pay to the collector of the taxing district no less than the total of all taxes and municipal charges due, up to and including the first quarter of the taxes and municipal charges assessed against him for the current year as prescribed in R.S. 54:4-66. Failure to comply with this provision may result in a dismissal of the Petition of Appeal.

6. ADJOURNMENTS No adjournments will be granted except for extraordinary reasons which shall be submitted in writing and well in advance of the hearing date.

7. REPRESENTATION AT HEARING
(a) A taxpayer must be present at the hearing or be represented by an Attorney-At-Law admitted to practice in the State of New Jersey.
(b) In the event the petitioner is a corporation or partnership, the appeal must be prosecuted by an Attorney-At-Law admitted to practice in the State of New Jersey.
(c) If an appraisal is submitted, the appraiser is to be present for the hearing for the purpose of being examined.

8. DISCRIMINATION
N.J.S.A. 54:3-22(c) to (f) requires that whenever the County Board finds that the ratio of assessed value to true value of property under appeal exceeds the upper limit or falls below the lower limit by 15% of the average ratio for each municipality, the County Board shall revise the assessment by applying the average ratio to the true value of the property. A petitioner who alleges discrimination other than discrimination under N.J.S.A. 54:3-22(c) to (f) (Chapter 123) must so specify in the Petition of Appeal.
The assessment value on your property by the tax assessor is presumed to be correct and it is your responsibility to overcome that presumption of correctness by presenting sufficient proofs of market value.

9. SUPPORTING PROOF AND PROCEDURES ONLY THE ASSESSED VALUE CAN BE APPEALED-NOT THE AMOUNT OF TAXES ON YOUR PROPERTY. In order to determine the taxable value of your property, you must demonstrate what the market value of your property was as of October 1, of the preceding (pretax) year. Thus, the petitioner should be prepared to present adequate evidence to support a tax assessment revision as follows:
(a) APPRAISALS
· A party intending to rely on expert testimony shall furnish to the Board a written appraisal report for each Commissioner (six) and shall furnish one copy of the report to each opposing party at least one week prior to the hearing. If an appraisal is to be used as evidence, the appraiser must be present to testify to his/her report and said appraiser is subject to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. (USPAP)
· If the municipality intends to rely on its Assessor or a representative of a revaluation company as its expert and if such testimony will involve data and analysis which is not reflected on the property record card, the municipality shall furnish to the Board for the Tax Administrator and each Commissioner copies of a written report reflecting such data and analysis and furnish one copy of the report to each opposing party at least one week prior to the hearing.
· The Board at its discretion and in the interest of justice may waive the requirements for the submission of written reports.
· At the request of the taxpayer-party, the municipality shall also furnish that party with a copy of the property record card for the property under appeal at least one week prior to the hearing.
(b) COMPARABLE SALES
Not more than five comparable sales shall be submitted to the Assessor, Clerk, and County Tax Board not later than one week prior to the hearing if not included with the petition of appeal. The information regarding each comparable sale shall include the block, lot, sale price and deed date. Said sales should be on or near the assessment date.
NOTE: COMPARABLE ASSESSMENTS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE AS EVIDENCE OF VALUE.
(c) STATEMENT ACCOMPANYING PETITION OF APPEAL FOR INCOME PRODUCING PROPERTY
There shall be attached to a petition appealing an assessment of a commercial, industrial or multiple-dwelling property (more than a four family dwelling) an itemized statement showing the amount and source of all income and expenses with respect to such property for the most recently completed accounting year and for such additional years as the Board may request. If this information has not been submitted under Chapter 91 provisions, this may be grounds for a dismissal of the appeal.
(d) OTHER DATA
Subject to the Board's discretion, you may present other relevant information concerning the property under appeal, such as, but not limited to, photographs, survey, cost data, etc.

10. CERTIFICATION The petitioner's signature is required to certify as to the truth of the statements in the petition and to the proof of service of the copies to the municipal Assessor and Clerk.

11. SETTLEMENTS
A settlement agreed upon between petitioner and respondent must be approved by the Monmouth County Board of Taxation and must reflect whether the assessor agrees with the settlement. Proposed stipulations containing the settlement terms must be executed on forms available at the County Board office. If the Board approves the settlement, the Board will enter judgment incorporating the settlement. If the Board disapproves the settlement, the Board will notify the parties of this fact and will schedule a hearing for the appeal.

12. FILING COMPLAINT WITH TAX COURT The judgment of the County Board of Taxation may be appealed to the Tax Court of New Jersey by filing a complaint with the Clerk of the Tax Court within 45 days from the date of the service of the judgment (date of mailing). The Tax Court of New Jersey is located at the Richard J. Hughes Complex, 25 Market Street, Trenton, New Jersey, 08625-0972. Mailing address: P.O. Box 972, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0972.