"Current market conditions such as eroding rental values and escalating vacancy rates impact the current market value and will not typically be taken into consideration by the assessor."

By John E. Garippa, Esq., as published by Globest.com Commercial Real Estate News and Property Resource, May 28th, 2008

New Jersey property owners need to begin reviewing their property tax assessments that were not appealed, now that the April 1st deadline for filing a tax appeal on 2008 taxes has passed. This is an important exercise because of the rapidly changing market conditions faced by New Jersey property owners.

A proper review calls for a current market analysis on the value of the taxpayer's property. The value discovered from the market analysis should be compared to the current assessed fair market value used by the assessor. Don't forget to include the latest Chapter 123 ratio because the assessor's valuation includes this ratio.

Assessments in New Jersey do not change year-to-year. Typically, once a revaluation cycle has been completed, those assessments remain in place for a number of years. Current market conditions such as eroding rental values and escalating vacancy rates impact the current market value and will not typically be taken into consideration by the assessor. This causes a significant disparity between the current assessment and what that assessment should be if it properly reflected the current market conditions.

By performing this exercise on every property in a portfolio, the taxpayer will be in a position to meet with the assessor months before a new appeal cycle starts.

The views expressed here are those of the author and not of Real Estate Media or its publications.

John E. Garippa is senior partner of the law firm of Garippa, Lotz & Giannuario with offices in Montclair and Philadelphia. He is also the president of the American Property Tax Counsel, the national affiliation of property tax attorneys, and can be reached at john@taxappeal.com.