Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 54:1-35.40

  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interests therein. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • taxing district: when used in a law relating to the assessment or collection of taxes, assessments or water rates or water rents, include every political division of the State, less than a county, whose inhabitants, governing body or officers have the power to levy taxes, assessments or rates. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
2. The Legislature finds and determines that:

a. Article VIII, Section I, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey requires that all real property in this State be assessed for taxation under the same standard of value, which the Legislature has defined as “true” or “market” value, and taxed at a uniform general tax rate within each taxing district;

b. Because of such factors as rapidly changing real estate markets, excessive workloads borne by local tax assessors and limited resources available thereto, a lack of uniform data processing standards, and the technological obsolescence of certain local assessment practices, it has been extremely difficult for many municipalities to maintain current market value assessments for all properties within their corporate boundaries;

c. Through the statutory equalization process, the Legislature has addressed certain difficulties arising from differential assessment levels, by directing county boards of taxation to adjust aggregate assessments to presumed market levels for the purpose of equitable inter-municipal apportionment of county and school tax burdens; however, adequate resources have not been available for the provision of an ongoing adjustment process to address the assessment discrepancies which often arise within individual municipalities;

d. When intra-municipal discrepancies become too severe, it is necessary to periodically revalue all parcels of real property within a municipality, in order to reestablish fair and equitable taxation pursuant to the intent of our constitutional mandate, and to avoid costly and time consuming litigation;

e. While revaluations are thus necessary to maintain tax equity, they generally result in shocking, immediate increases in individual property tax bills, which severely strain the financial resources of many property owners, particularly homeowners, and which threaten the stability and viability of long-standing neighborhoods and communities which are often already in need of rehabilitation; and

f. It is, therefore, incumbent upon the Legislature, as a compelling public purpose and a matter of the general public welfare, to provide municipalities with the authority to mitigate this fiscal shock by phasing in tax increases in areas determined to be in need of rehabilitation, thus maintaining the stability and viability of those neighborhoods and communities, while encouraging those governing bodies to conduct revaluations.

L.1993,c.101,s.2.