NJBIA Statement on Law Increasing Refund Time for Approved Nonresidential Property Tax Appeals

New Jersey Business & Industry Association Vice President of Government Affairs Andrew Musick issued the following statement regarding the signing of bill A-2004, which increases the time municipalities have to refund successful nonresidential property tax appeals from 60 days to three years.

“NJBIA appreciates the sponsors’ willingness to add minor amendments to this legislation. Ultimately, however, the large increase in the repayment period is overly burdensome and represents an unfortunate example of how New Jersey’s business community is not being treated fairly compared to residential taxpayers.
“This change could create a situation where it actually benefits a town to over-assess a nonresidential property taxpayer, knowing it has additional time to pay back the overpayment. This additional delay would come on top of a tax appeals process that is often long and tedious in its own right. Requiring business owners to wait this much longer to recoup their overpayments, when some have invested years in pursuing a successful property tax appeal, is neither fair nor reasonable.
“This change also allows municipalities to treat residential and nonresidential tax appeals differently. Traditionally, commercial and residential property taxpayers have always been treated the same. We remain steadfast that uniformity in repayment periods for both should remain.”