N.J.S.A. 54:4-23 — Assessment of real property; conditions for reassessment.

54:4-23 Assessment of real property; conditions for reassessment. 54:4-23. All real property shall be assessed to the person owning the same on October 1 in each year. The assessor shall ascertain the names of the owners of all real property situate in his taxing district, and after examination and inquiry, determine the full and fair value of each parcel of real property situate in the taxing district at such price as, in his judgment, it would sell for at a fair and bona fide sale by private contract on October 1 next preceding the date on which the assessor shall complete his assessments, as hereinafter required; provided, however, that in determining the full and fair value of land which is being assessed and taxed under the Farmland Assessment Act of 1964, chapter 48, laws of 1964, the assessor shall consider only those indicia of value which such land has for agricultural or horticultural use as provided by said act; and provided further however, that when the assessor has reason to believe that property comprising all or part of a taxing district has been assessed at a value lower or higher than is consistent with the purpose of securing uniform taxable valuation of property according to law for the purpose of taxation, or that the assessment of property comprising all or part of a taxing district is not in substantial compliance with the law and that the interests of the public will be promoted by a reassessment of such property, the assessor shall, after due investigation, make a reassessment of the property in the taxing district that is not in substantial compliance, provided that (1) the assessor has first notified, in writing, the mayor, the municipal governing body, the county board of taxation, and the county tax administrator of the basis of the assessor's determination that a reassessment of that property in the taxing district is warranted and (2) the assessor has submitted a copy of a compliance plan to the county board of taxation for approval. In the case of real property located in a county participating in the demonstration program established in section 4 of P.L.2013, c.15 (C.54:1-104), the assessor of the municipality in which the real property is situate, after due investigation, shall make a reassessment of the property in the taxing district that is not in substantial compliance. Following a reassessment of a portion of the taxing district pursuant to the provisions of this section, the assessor shall certify to the county board of taxation, through such sampling as the county board of taxation deems adequate, that the reassessment is in substantial compliance with the portions of the taxing district that were not reassessed. For the purposes of assessment, the assessor shall compute and determine the taxable value of such real property at the level established for the county pursuant to law. amended 1942, c.281, s.3; 1943, c.120, s.3; 1960, c.51, s.25; 1965, c.62, s.2; 2001, c.101; 2009, c.251, s.2; 2013, c.15, s.11. 54:4-23a. Single family dwelling; date of addition to assessment list; issuance of certificate of occupancy and actual occupation; limitation of time Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, no building or other structure newly constructed on any parcel of real property and intended for occupancy and use for residential purposes as a single family dwelling shall be added to the assessment list as real property subject to taxation, until a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate of occupancy has been issued and unless the building or other structure is actually occupied and used for such purposes; provided, however, that such building or structure shall be omitted from taxation for a period not to exceed 24 months. At the termination of the 24 month period or following the granting of a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate of occupancy and the occupation and use of the building for residential purposes, the building or structure shall be assessed and taxed as of the first day of the month following the date of such use for the proportionate part of said year then remaining. For the purposes of this act, "newly constructed" refers to construction which commenced on or after December 29, 1982. Construction will be deemed to commence on the date of the footing inspection. Nothing in this act shall be construed as applicable to any addition to, or improvement or alteration of, any existing building or structure. L.1982, c. 220, s. 1, eff. Dec. 29, 1982. Amended by L.1983, c. 155, s. 1. 54:4-23b Inspections of real property for purposes of reassessment. 10. a. Regarding inspections of real property for purposes of a municipal-wide reassessment pursuant to R.S.54:4-23, in the case of a municipality located in a county wherein the county board of taxation is participating in the demonstration program established in section 4 of the "Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program," 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 county that has adopted, by resolution, the provisions of section 1 of P.L.2018, c.94 (C.54:1-105), the assessor shall make three good-faith attempts to physically inspect the interior of each of the properties in the municipality not later than December 31 of the year immediately preceding the year of the implementation of the proposed district-wide reassessment. Such inspections may be performed in an ongoing assessment cycle. If, after the third attempt to inspect the interior of the premises, access to the interior of the premises has not been granted by the property owner, the assessor shall assess the property using other observations and sources, including information on the property record card maintained by the assessor. As used in this section, "good-faith attempt to physically inspect" shall mean that the assessor, an employee of the municipality acting on behalf of the assessor, or a representative of a revaluation company or other company hired by the municipality to provide internal inspection services, shall physically arrive at the parcel of real property and request entry to the interior of the property. If that person is unable to gain entry to the property to perform an interior inspection, the person shall complete the exterior inspection and shall leave a notice affixed to the front door of the property stating that an attempt was made to inspect the interior of the property, with the appropriate contact information prominently displayed on the notice. b. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, in any municipality implementing a revaluation program approved by the Director of the Division of Taxation pursuant to P.L.1971, c.424 (C.54:1-35.35 et seq.), district-wide reassessment program, compliance plan, or other form of municipal-wide assessment review that requires the revision of all property assessments to current market value, that is approved by the county board of taxation at the taxpayer's discretion, the assessor may perform the internal inspections described in subsection a. of this section in a virtual manner, utilizing smartphone technology and protocols adopted by the county board of taxation. No such video recordings may be retained by the assessor. This virtual internal inspection alternative shall be available to all assessment function inspections within the county, including, but not limited to, revaluations, reassessments, the annual reassessment, and inspections related to added or omitted assessments. L.2017, c.306, s.10; amended 2021, c.136, s.1. 54:4-23c Rules, regulations. 12. The State Treasurer, in consultation with the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, pursuant to the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of P.L.2017, c.306 (C.54:4-23b et al.). L.2017, c.306, s.12.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 54:4-23, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.