Lester Taylor, Florio Perrucci Steinhardt Cappelli Tipton & Taylor

With municipal governments experiencing widespread revenue shortfalls because of the coronavirus pandemic, attorneys who specialize in tax appeals lauded legislation signed by Gov. Phil Murphy that temporarily extends the deadline to file a property tax appeal by three months, to July 1.

The measure, signed into law May 28, also extends the deadline for county boards of taxation to render decisions in tax appeal cases to Sept. 30 of this year.

"This will help property owners and municipalities in helping to set a valuation rate, and if property owners still feel their properties are overvalued due to various circumstances, they can appeal next year and subsequent years," said Lester Taylor, a partner at Florio Perrucci Steinhardt Cappelli Tipton & Taylor, who is also solicitor for Willingboro Township Solicitor, since January 2020, and the Willingboro School District, for the last five years. "It's a win-win for the state and municipalities to be able to fix and collect taxes."

A-4157 took effect immediately, and applies retroactively to April 1.

Supporters say it's a temporary move to deal with the current crisis brought on by the pandemic.

"Our current public health crisis has substantially disrupted many of our routine processes, including the ability of New Jersey homeowners to file timely property tax appeals," Murphy said in a release dated May 28 after signing the bill.

"Establishing clear dates for tax appeals and decisions will eliminate the potential for a backlog that would only cause further fiscal uncertainty for taxpayers and municipal governments," added Murphy.

Taylor said since the bill was signed, he's been consulting with Craig Bossong, also a partner at the firm, whom he works with in the Rochelle Park office. Bossong specializes in tax appeals, local and municipal government, and redevelopment and land use issues.

"It is a good thing. It at least creates a final drop-dead date by which appeals have to be filed," Bossong said in a phone call.

Bossong said the initial deadline was open ended and confusing, because it was tied to the state of emergency executive order by the governor, which allowed 30 days to file appeals after the executive order was lifted.

That "created too much uncertainty from a planning and economic standpoint," Bossong said. "We had no idea how long this state of emergency was going to last. We still don't know."

Taylor, who also represents Passaic County, the Township of Irvington and the City of Paterson, said it hasn't been business as usual for municipalities since the governor declared a state and public health emergency March 9 and put the state into lockdown by shuttering most establishments and offices.

"Parking, tolls, construction permits—whether to add a deck or pool—came to standstill," Taylor said. "There are a lot of ancillary revenue streams that many municipalities have not received in the last three months. This is a step in the right direction."

Taylor, who was added to the Florio firm's name in late February, was mayor of East Orange from 2014 to 2017. He thinks it will get worse in some parts of the state because whole industries have been decimated, he said.

"Our economy is going to change," Taylor said. "Most bosses cringed at working from home a year ago. Now the reality is we don't need as much real estate—whether you work in accounting, law or other fields."

"Real estate is getting hit, and that will trigger maybe less real estate valuations for offices to do business, which in itself creates tax appeals from commercial tenants," added Taylor.

Taylor cited the city of Paramus, which he said has a low tax rate because it has so many businesses.

"If those businesses get hit, the city will have to make up for the revenue shortfall somewhere, and that will affect homeowners," Taylor said, "who in turn will file appeals, and so on down the line."

But attorney Michael Sklar, a partner at Levine Staller in Atlantic City, which has seen substantial tax reevaluations over the last 10 years due to casino closings, said the new law will aid municipalities "marginally at best."

"This law simply extended the date for filing tax appeals," said Sklar, who represents taxpayers in tax appeals. "The normal filing deadline is April 1 (May 1 for municipalities that completed a revaluation). The vast majority of tax appeals are filed by property owners seeking assessment reductions, which if successful, result in tax refunds from the municipality."

Still, sponsors of A-4157 said the measure was necessitated by the pandemic's timing.

Said Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, D-Hudson, and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, D-Bergen, in a joint statement: "Giving homeowners and counties time, by extending deadlines, is critical to ensure properties can be fairly assessed and appeals adequately processed."

"The COVID shutdown made it difficult, if not impossible, for many taxpayers to file their appeals by the deadlines which normally fall between April 1 and May 1, a period when many government offices were closed to visitors," said Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, who signed off on the Senate companion bill, S-2387 that A-4157 substituted.

A-4157 was approved unanimously by the Senate (40-0) and Assembly (79-0) on May 14.

The Willingboro Township Municipal Building has been closed since mid-March, so the township opened a trailer outside in early May for three weeks to receive second quarter payments that were due April 1. June 1 was the last day for the trailer, but it could reopen in August due to its success, said Mayor Dr. Tiffani Worthy.

Property tax revenue was up 2% year-over-year as a result of the curbside collection program. However, other areas, like fees, permits and miscellaneous revenue, was down dramatically due to COVID-19, she said.

Worthy said the governor's signing of A-4157 couldn't come soon enough.

"This has been a topic of discussion," Worthy said. "It is definitely a step in the right direction that we now have a definitive deadline on the appeals."