$2.5 Million Property Tax Refund

At trial in the Tax Court, Judge Kuskin held that the DSM Nutritional expert’s sole reliance on the cost approach was appropriate due to the fact that “other market data,” such as “comparable sales or leases, [were] scarce or nonexistent.” In addition, at trial, the question of depreciation became a major issue. Addressing this issue, Judge Kuskin noted that “the analysis by plaintiff’s appraiser was not error free” but that “defendant presented no depreciation analysis,” or other proofs to challenge the conclusions or adjustments of plaintiff’s appraiser. As such, Judge Kuskin evaluated in detail DSM Nutritional expert’s testimony and after noting the need to make corrections and adjustments, Judge Kuskin concluded that the “original assessment [was] unreliable,” and therefore not entitled to “its presumptive correctness.” In so doing, Judge Kuskin ruled that DSM Nutritional overcame the presumption of correctness that normally attaches to a municipality’s assessment. Since the presumption of correctness of the assessment no longer attached to DSM Nutritional’s assessment, Judge Kuskin was under a duty to find the true value of the property. In so doing, Judge Kuskin lowered the assessment of the property by $77 million for the 2004 tax year and by $74 million for the 2005 tax year.

The Appellate Division affirmed Judge Kuskin’s decision. Some sources say that this case will be appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

As it stands now, in order to refund the $2.5 million dollars to DSM Nutritional, the property taxes in White Township are going to be raised by 5 cents per 100 dollars in assessed valuation.

To read about this decision from LehighValleyLive.com, click Property Tax.

To read about this decision from the NJ.com, click Property Tax.