Bill Text: NJ A4064 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Permits reassessment of real property when municipal assessor has not received notice of material depreciation from property owner and allows Division of Taxation to extend certain statutory dates.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-07 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A4064 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A4064-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Permits reassessment of real property when municipal assessor has not received notice of material depreciation from property owner and allows Division of Taxation to extend certain statutory dates.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the material depreciation of real property following a disaster and amending P.L.1945, c.260
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1945, c.260 (C.54:4-35.1) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. When any parcel of real property contains any building or other structure which has been destroyed, consumed by fire, demolished, or altered in such a way that its value has materially depreciated, either intentionally or by the action of storm, fire, cyclone, tornado, or earthquake, or other casualty, which depreciation of value occurred after October 1 in any year and before January 1 of the following year, the assessor shall, upon notice thereof being given to him by the property owner prior to January 10 of that year, and after examination and inquiry, determine the value of such parcel of real property as of that January 1, and assess the same according to such value.
b. (1) In the case of a county participating in the demonstration program established by section 4 of P.L.2013, c.15 (C.54:1-104), when any parcel of real property contains any building or other structure which has been destroyed, consumed by fire, demolished, or altered in such a way that its value has materially depreciated, either intentionally or by the action of storm, fire, cyclone, tornado, or earthquake, or other casualty, which depreciation of value occurred after October 1 in any year and before May 1 of the following year, the assessor shall, upon notice thereof being given to him by the property owner prior to May 3 of that year, and after examination and inquiry, determine the value of the parcel of real property as of that May 1, and assess the same according to such value within the final tax list delivered to the county board of taxation on or before May 5 of that year.
(2) To properly capture the value of the building or structure from January 1 to the date of the depreciation of the building or structure, the assessor's final tax list shall include an improvement value that reflects the prorated value of the building or structure as of January 1 for the number of days prior to the date of the depreciation of the building or structure.
c. When the depreciation of value occurs after December fifteenth and before January first, the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury may extend the deadline for notice to the assessor to not later than 45 days following the declaration of an emergency by the President of the United States or the Governor.
d. When an event as described in subsection a. of this section results in the declaration of an emergency by the President of the United States or the Governor, the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury may, regardless of whether the property owner provided notice pursuant to subsection a. of this section, direct that when the assessor has constructive notice of damage or destruction, whether through personal observation, reports from governmental officials, video or photographic images, or reasonable inferences made from observations of surrounding parcels, the municipal assessor shall, after examination and inquiry, determined the value of such parcel of real property as of said January first, and assess the same according to such value.
e. Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Director of the Division of Taxation, may, following the declaration of an emergency by the President of the United States or the Governor, and in consultation with the Commissioner of Community Affairs and the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs, extend the dates related to the assessment and collection of property taxes in accordance with chapters 3, 4, and 5 of Title 54 of the Revised Statutes.
(cf: P.L.2017, c.228, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be retroactive to October 1, 2012.
STATEMENT
This legislation permits the Director of the Division of Taxation to grant property taxpayers additional time to request that the municipal assessor record material depreciation to a property that occurs between, but not including, October first and January first. Property that has materially depreciated as of October first is not eligible for reassessment because the assessor would have already adjusted the assessment to reflect the condition of the property as of that date.
Under current law, a municipal assessor must assess a parcel of real property as that real property exists on October 1 of the pretax year. All real property in the State was assessed for 2016 property taxation purposes as of October 1, 2015. Current law, N.J.S.A.54:4-35.1, also permits a municipal assessor, after having received notice from a taxpayer, to utilize the assessing date of January first to adjust assessments to properties that have been materially depreciated as a result of a disaster that occurs between, but not including, October first and January first.
This bill allows the Director of the Division of Taxation to extend the January ninth deadline for notice of material depreciation to the municipal tax assessor to not later than 45 days following the declaration of an emergency by the President of the United States or the Governor, when the depreciation of value occurs after December fifteenth and before January first. The extended deadline will grant taxpayers additional time to notify the municipal assessor if the material depreciation occurs close to the January first deadline. For example, if a disaster were declared on December 16th, then the owner would have until January 29, an additional 20 days to notify the assessor.
This bill also permits the Director of the Division of Taxation to direct that municipal assessors use all information available in identifying affected properties and assess all affected properties as of January first. Current law allows for the reassessment of property only after the property owner has provided notice of the material depreciation to the municipal assessor prior to January tenth.
Finally, this bill grants the Director of the Division of Taxation, following the declaration of an emergency, and in consultation with the Commissioner of Community Affairs and the Director of the Division of Local Government Services, the authority to extend any statutory dates for the assessment and collection of property taxes. This will allow the director to provide municipal assessors, county boards of taxation, and the Division of Taxation appropriate time to fulfill their legal responsibilities regarding those functions.
If enacted, this bill would take effect immediately and be retroactive to October 1, 2012. This would allow for the reassessment of properties that experienced material depreciation due to Hurricane Sandy, even when the property owner has not provided notice to the municipal assessor.
