Appeal Process

If you believe the assessment on your property exceeds the amount for which you could reasonably expect to sell it, you may have a basis for filing a property tax assessment appeal. Please read all of the instructions on this site to be sure your appeal has the best chance to be successful.

Hearings are usually held at the Historic Courthouse at 5909 Main Street in Mays Landing. Please read your hearing notice carefully for the address, date and time of your hearing.

You will receive your hearing notice at least 10 days prior to your hearing. Hearings are typically held June – September each year. If you have not received your notice and are concerned, phone the County Board of Taxation at (609) 645-5820. The notice will be mailed to the address you have listed as your “Mailing Address” on your petition. If you have provided an additional contact or attorney to be notified of the hearing date and judgment on your petition that person will also receive a hearing notice and judgment.

New Jersey law presumes the assessment is correct until the petitioner proves otherwise. The assessment should be the amount that a willing buyer would have paid a willing seller for the property on the previous October 1. The best proof of what your property is worth is to find sales of properties comparable to yours.

It is best if you can list the comparable sales information on your appeal petition and attach evidence when it is filed. However, at the latest, you must supply your evidence to the Board of Taxation, your Municipal Assessor and Municipal Clerk, at least seven (7) days prior to your hearing. This allows the Tax Board Commissioners and your Municipal Assessor time to become familiar with your evidence. If you wait until your hearing to supply your evidence it will not be accepted, and you will not have any evidence to support an assessment reduction.

The only requirement is that you file form A-1 (in the Tax Appeal Forms, Instructions & Information box above) with the appropriate filing fee by the filing deadline with the Atlantic County Board of Taxation. You must also file a copy with the municipal assessor and municipal clerk where the property is located. If you want to submit additional evidence, you may do so until 7 calendar days before your hearing date. Please follow the instructions for completing the form carefully. Incorrect or incomplete forms will be returned.

There is usually no reason to use more than five sales. However, quality is better than quantity. Two or three highly comparable sales may be sufficient. Please be sure the sales are truly comparable and are actual sales, not just listings of properties for sale.

It should at least meet the following requirements:

• It must be in the same municipality
• It should have the nearly the same number of square feet of living area. This excludes attics, basements and any unheated areas.
• It should be in the same neighborhood or one of comparable quality.
• It should be of similar age and quality of construction
• The sale should have occurred in the one year period prior to last October 1. If there are not sufficient usable sales within the one year period, you may be able to use sales outside that period to provide additional evidence of value, but such sales will usually be less persuasive and therefore given less weight, than those within the time period.
• It should be a ‘usable sale” (see next paragraph)

It should meet the requirements for a “fair market sale” i.e. between a willing buyer and seller in an arm’s length transaction. The comparable sale should have been advertised for sale with the Multiple Listing Service®.

Also, there are 33 different codes the State may use to determine non-usable sales. Examples of non-usable sales (that have little value as evidence of market value) include most foreclosures, sheriff’s sales, estate sales and short sales.

Lists of Usable Comparable Sales in Atlantic County

2023 Usable Comparable Sales

2022 Usable Comparable Sales

2021 Usable Comparable Sales

2020 Usable Comparable Sales

This link will take you to a new map based website where you can search for comparable sales.** 

**Note: "Daniel's Law;" (P.L.2020, c.125) amends the Open Public Records Act and prohibits the disclosure of the home address or unpublished telephone number of certain law enforcement officers, judicial officers and prosecutors. It establishes criminal and civil actions for disclosing such information.

If your property is primarily an income producing property such as a rental apartment building or retail commercial or office space, the assessor may require you to file an income and expense statement, also known as a Chapter 91 request. Always be sure your correct mailing address for such correspondence is on file with the assessor. If you have any questions regarding your property and Chapter 91, contact your municipal assessor.

You may obtain the form from the Tax Appeal Forms, Instructions & Information box on the Taxation homepage and print all four copies on white paper. The only requirement is that the County Board of Taxation, the Municipal Assessor and the Municipal Clerk each receive a copy. Please bring a copy to your hearing.

You must supply the number where you most likely can be reached. If you will be outside the area at any time during April through September, please also supply a number where you may be reached during that period. It is also helpful to include an e-mail address.

Any petitioner may choose to retain an attorney, but if you are an individual, not a business entity, you are not required to use an attorney. If you are a business entity, you are still not required to use an attorney if the amount of property taxes billed to the property in the previous year were less than $25,000.

You may do so if you wish, but it is not necessary. If you do hire an appraiser, special rules apply. The appraiser must appear with you at the hearing to give expert testimony on the appraisal. The appraiser normally will charge you an additional fee for appearing with you at the hearing. The appraisal report should be delivered at least 7 days prior to your hearing date to the Board of Taxation, and one copy each to the Municipal Assessor and Municipal Clerk. A real estate agent may not testify unless he or she is also a New Jersey licensed appraiser.

Hearings are usually held in a courtroom at the Historic Courthouse at 5909 Main Street in the center of Mays Landing, usually between April and September. You will receive a hearing notice from our office listing the date and time of your hearing. We are required to notify you at least 10 days in advance.

At the hearing, when your name is called, you and any witness you may be calling will sit at one table. The municipal attorney, the municipal assessor and any witness they may use will be seated at the other table. One or more Board of Taxation Commissioners and a member of our staff will be seated at the front of the courtroom.

You and your witnesses, if any, will be sworn in and asked to discuss your property, your comparable sales, and anything you know about the evidence you have previously submitted. Additional questions may be asked by a Commissioner or the municipal attorney. At hearings, if petitioners are not represented by an attorney, all questioning must be done by the petitioner, the municipality’s attorney or a Board of Taxation Commissioner. Next, the municipality will be given the opportunity to present their evidence, and you will be given the opportunity to ask them questions.

When all evidence/testimony has been presented, and no offer is made from the assessor, the Commissioners will indicate the hearing is concluded.

After your hearing, the commissioner or commissioners who were present at your hearing will review the evidence, both oral and written submitted by you and the municipality with the other Commissioners. They will then decide whether to leave the assessment unchanged, decrease the assessment (or if a counterclaim was filed by the assessor) increase the assessment. In most cases you will receive the judgment within two weeks after your hearing.

If you receive a reduction, your municipal tax collector will send you a revised tax bill showing a credit for the amount of taxes you have overpaid since the beginning of the calendar year.

If you disagree with the judgment, there are instructions on the back of the judgment form for filing an appeal with the New Jersey Tax Court. That appeal must be filed within 45 days of the mailing date shown on the front of the judgment. You may submit the same or additional evidence with that appeal.

Adjournments will only be granted for serious reasons. Generally, only a serious medical condition or a vacation booked prior to the receipt of the hearing notice are sufficient. Requests for postponements must be made in writing and documentation must be provided for your request to be considered. All requests should be made immediately upon receipt of your hearing notice and addressed to the County Tax Administrator. Requests can be emailed to Board_Taxation@aclink.org.

Your Municipal Assessor may contact you prior to your hearing date to discuss a possible settlement. If you do reach an agreement, the Municipal Assessor will prepare a Stipulation of Settlement form. This form is signed by you or your attorney and must be returned to the Municipal Assessor within seven days or before the hearing date, whichever is sooner. The Municipal Assessor will then forward it to the Board of Taxation for final review. If the Board of Taxation agrees to the settlement, it will issue you a Memorandum of Judgment and you will not have to appear for your hearing.

You may withdraw your appeal at any time prior to your hearing by notifying the Board of Taxation in writing. If you do withdraw your appeal, your filing fee is not refunded.