New Jersey-2024-A217-Introduced

An Act concerning notification of real property assessment, designated as the "Property Assessment Appeal Transparency Act," and amending P.L.1991, c.75.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 32 of P.L.1991, c.75 (C.54:4-38.1) is amended to read as follows:

32. a. Except as provided in subsection b. of this section, every assessor, prior to February 1, shall notify by mail each taxpayer of the current assessment and preceding year's taxes. Thereafter, the assessor or county board of taxation shall notify each taxpayer by mail within 30 days of any change to the assessment. This notification of change of assessment shall contain the prior assessment and the current assessment. The [director] Director of the Division of Taxation shall establish the form of notice of assessment and change of assessment. Any notice issued by the assessor or county board of taxation shall contain the following statement:

"This notice is to inform you of the assessment on your real property for the current tax year. This assessment will be used to calculate your property tax bill. If you disagree with the assessed value of your real property, you should file an appeal of this assessment with your county board of taxation. If the assessed value exceeds $1,000,000, you may appeal to your county board of taxation or directly to the Tax Court."

The notice also shall contain information instructing taxpayers on how to appeal their assessment along with the deadline to file an appeal, printed in boldface type.

b. In the case of a municipality located in a county where the county board of taxation is participating in the demonstration program established in section 4 of P.L.2013, c.15 (C.54:1-104), in the case of a county operating under the "Property Tax Assessment Reform Act," P.L.2009, c.118 (C.54:1-86 et seq.) and in the case of a municipality located in a county that has adopted, by resolution, the provisions of section 1 of P.L.2018, c.94 (C.54:1-105), every assessor, on or before November 15 of the pretax year, shall notify by mail each taxpayer of the preliminary assessment and preceding year's taxes. Thereafter, the assessor or county board of taxation shall notify each taxpayer by mail within 30 days of any change to the assessment which has occurred as the result of a municipal-wide revaluation or reassessment of real property within the municipality. This notification of change of assessment shall contain the prior assessment and the current assessment. The

[director] Director of the Division of Taxation shall establish the form of notice of assessment and change of assessment. Any notice issued by the assessor or county board of taxation shall contain the following statement:

The notice also shall contain information instructing taxpayers on how to appeal their assessment along with the deadline to file an appeal, printed in boldface type. The notification required by this section shall satisfy any notice requirement to a property owner in a municipality located in a county wherein the county board of taxation is participating in the "Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program" established in section 4 of P.L.2013, c.15 (C.54:1-104) concerning the assessment of that property owner's preliminary assessment value for the tax year.

c. The county board of taxation of the county participating in the real property assessment program established in section 4 of the "Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program," P.L.2013, c.15 (C.54:1-104) shall make the preliminary data electronically accessible to the public by posting the data in searchable form on the county's website not later than 15 business days after the submission of the preliminary data.

(cf: P.L.2021, c.136, s.6)

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill, designated as the "Property Assessment Appeal Transparency Act," would require that the annual property assessment notice required to be mailed to each taxpayer, pursuant to section 32 of P.L.1991, c.75 (C.54:4-38.1), contain information explaining the impact of the assessed value of a parcel of real property on the property tax bill for that parcel of real property.

Under current law, this annual notice is only required by statute to contain the current year's assessment and preceding year's property taxes. A notification of a change of assessment, also required under the statute, only requires information about the current and prior assessments on the property. Both notices must also contain information instructing taxpayers on how to appeal their assessment. However, no information is currently required in either case about the effect of a property's assessed value on the property taxes due and owing on the property. This lack of information leads to confusion on the part of many property owners who do not understand that the amount of their property tax bill is directly related to the property's assessed value.

In order to provide this information to taxpayers, this bill would require that the notice of assessment and notice of change of assessment also contain this statement:

This statement would provide property taxpayers with greater knowledge and understanding about the effect of their property's assessed value on their property taxes, and would also effectuate transparency in how property taxes are calculated.