Woodcliff Management v. Township of North Bergen
Woodcliff Management v. Township of North Bergen
Opinion of the Court
Insofar as the judgment orders defendant to pay interest on refund of taxes due plaintiff for the tax years 1964, 1965 and 1966, we affirm. We approve the decision and supporting reasoning of Judge Pindar for the Law Division in 713 Co. v. Jersey City, 94 N. J. Super. 210 (Law Div. 1967), to the effect that where a taxpayer has secured a reduction of tax assessment before a review board and the municipality has unsuccessfully exhausted all appellate review thereof, the taxpayer is entitled to 6% interest on any consequently owing and unrefunded overpayment of taxes, to be computed beginning with a reasonable time after exhaustion of such appellate review and ending when payment of the refund is made. That principle was correctly applied here by the trial court for the tax years mentioned above.
However, in entering judgment for refund for the taxes, and interest thereon, for the tax year 1967, we think the trial court erred. The municipality had an undetermined appeal to the Division of Tax Appeals pending as to that tax year at the time judgment was entered below. The trial court disregarded that appeal on the basis that the appeal was without merit because the assessment for 1967 was mandatorily “frozen,” pursuant to N. J. S. A. 54:2-43 (commonly known
We thus conclude that since defendant has not yet obtained a final appellate adjudication in respect of the amount of taxes legally payable to it by plaintiff for the tax year 1967, plaintiff has as yet no cause of action against it for refund of overpayment of 1967 taxes or interest thereon.
Judgment modified to set aside award for overpayment of 1967 taxes and interest; otherwise affirmed. No costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WOODCLIFF MANAGEMENT, A PARTNERSHIP, PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT v. TOWNSHIP OF NORTH BERGEN, A TAXING DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published