VALENTINA TARTIVITA VS. BOROUGH OF UNION BEACH (TAX COURT OF NEW JERSEY) ( 2021 )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE
APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the
internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
DOCKET NO. A-1714-19
VALENTINA TARTIVITA,
Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
BOROUGH OF UNION BEACH,
Defendant-Appellant.
____________________________
Argued February 3, 2021 – Decided May 6, 2021
Before Judges Sumners and Mitterhoff.
On appeal from the Tax Court of New Jersey, Docket
No. 007705-2018.
Martin Allen argued the cause for appellant
(DiFrancesco, Bateman, attorneys; Martin Allen, of
counsel; Kevin A. McDonald and Wesley E. Buirkle,
on the briefs).
Paul Tannenbaum argued the cause for respondent
(Zipp & Tannenbaum, LLC, attorneys; Peter J. Zipp
and Paul Tannenbaum, of counsel and on the brief;
Joseph G. Buro, on the brief).
PER CURIAM
Defendant Borough of Union Beach (Borough) appeals the December 9,
2019 Tax Court judgment reversing the Monmouth County Board of Taxation's
$196,700 assessment for the 2018 tax year––an approximately forty-six percent
increase from the 2017 tax assessment of $135,000––regarding plaintiff
Valentina Tartivita's residence (the property). The Tax Court concluded that
based on the Freeze Act, N.J.S.A. 54:51A-8 and N.J.S.A. 54:3-26, the property's
tax assessment for 2017 should remain the same for 2018, because "the Borough
[did] not overcome its burden to prove that the Freeze Act relief [did] not comply
. . . ." The Tax Court emphasized that the Borough failed perform an annual
reassessment of every Borough property under the Real Property Assessment
Demonstration Program (ADP) law, N.J.S.A. 54:1-101 to -106. We affirm
substantially for the reasons set forth in Tax Court Judge Mala Sundar's cogent
written decision. Tartivita v. Borough of Union Beach, 31 N.J. Tax 335, 339
(Tax 2019). We add only the following comments.
In reviewing a Tax Court judgment, "[w]e recognize the expertise of the
[judge] in this 'specialized and complex area.'" Advance Hous., Inc. v. Twp. of
Teaneck, 215 N.J. 549, 566 (2013) (quoting Metromedia, Inc. v. Dir., Div. of
Tax'n, 97 N.J. 313, 327 (1984)). Judge Sundar's factual findings "are supported
by substantial credible evidence with due regard to [her] expertise." Yilmaz,
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Inc. v. Dir., Div. of Tax'n, 390 N.J. Super. 435, 443 (App. Div. 2007) (quoting
First Republic Corp. of Am. v. Borough of E. Newark, 17 N.J. Tax 531 (App.
Div. 1998)). Based upon our de novo review of the judge's legal conclusions,
we find no error. See United Parcel Serv. Gen. Servs. Co. v. Dir., Div. of Tax'n,
430 N.J. Super. 1, 8 (App. Div. 2013).
The Borough's contention that its ADP reassessment constituted a
complete reassessment to preclude the property from the Freeze Act's protection
is not supported by the record. Under the ADP reassessment, only twenty
percent of the total line items (properties) were thoroughly inspected by the tax
assessor, and of the total line items, many had a less than one percent tax
assessment change, either positively or negatively. This is not "a significant
difference in the aggregate assessed valuation of that taxing district from one
year to a following year, other than that caused by inclusion of added
assessments or other new construction," to qualify as a complete assessment to
circumvent the Freeze Act and to increase the property's tax assessment for the
2018 tax year. Ennis v. Alexandria Twp. (Hunterdon County), 13 N.J. Tax 423,
426-27 (Tax 1993) (quoting Handbook for New Jersey Assessors, §801.13 (3d
ed. 1989)); see also Appeal of Kents 2124 Atlantic Ave., Inc., 34 N.J. 21, 28
(1961) ("[N]othing short of complete revaluation, parcel by parcel, plus
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appropriate measures to keep the rolls current can achieve equality."). The
Borough has not carried its burden of proof to demonstrate that the Freeze Act
does not apply here. See Clearview Gardens Assocs. v. Parsippany-Troy Hills
Twp., 196 N.J. Super. 323, 330 (App. Div. 1984).
We also reject the Borough's contention that the application of the Freeze
Act to Tartivita's 2018 tax assessment violates the Uniformity Clause of the New
Jersey Constitution. Although the issue was not raised before the Tax Court, we
will consider it because it "concern[s] [a] matter[] of great public interest."
Nieder v. Royal Indem. Ins. Co., 62 N.J. 229, 234 (1973) (quoting Reynolds
Offset Co., Inc. v. Summer, 58 N.J. Super. 542, 548 (App. Div. 1959)).
The Uniformity Clause of our constitution provides:
Property shall be assessed for taxation under general
laws and by uniform rules. All real property assessed
and taxed locally or by the State for allotment and
payment to taxing districts shall be assessed according
to the same standard of value, except as otherwise
permitted herein, and such real property shall be taxed
at the general tax rate of the taxing district in which [it]
is situated, for the use of such taxing district.
[N.J. Const. art. VIII, § 1, ¶ 1(a).]
The Borough's reliance on Regent Care Ctr., Inc. v. Hackensack City, 362 N.J.
Super. 403, 415 (App. Div. 2003), to overturn the Tax Court's judgment is
misplaced. There, we recognized that the uniformity clause is to "mandate
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equality of treatment and burden," thus "[p]eriodic revaluations or
reassessments are feasible and are necessary to maintain uniform and non -
discriminatory assessments." Ibid. (citations omitted).
Keeping the property's tax assessment static in 2018, due to the Freeze
Act, would have been superseded had the Borough conducted a complete
reassessment to establish a substantial and meaningful change in the property's
value between tax years 2017 and 2018. The Borough has therefore made no
showing that the Freeze Act violated the uniformity clause. See Bell v. Twp. of
Stafford, 110 N.J. 384, 394 (1988) ("[O]rdinarily legislative enactments are
presumed to be valid and the burden to prove invalidity is a heavy one."). There
is no indication that the property was given unequal treatment. The Borough
has not shown that freezing the property's assessment at the 2017 tax assessment
for 2018, is any different than finding that a property's value has not changed
from year to year; thus, no violation of the uniformity clause occurred.
Affirmed.
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