RLA Secures State Property Tax Settlement
Rutgers Law Associates (RLA) recently secured a significant win in New Jersey Tax Court, marking a crucial victory for both the clients served and the RLA fellows who represented them.
The case involved a family of recent immigrants who had purchased a modest home in Central New Jersey for $350,000. In 2022, when they purchased the home, their property taxes were $5,500, based on an outdated assessed value of $111,000—a reflection of the last town-wide property valuation conducted in 1999. Upon receiving their next tax bill, the family was shocked to see it had doubled to more than $11,000, as their home was reassessed at its purchase price. While their neighbors who had lived in their homes for years continued to pay around $5,500, the newcomers faced an overwhelming and unanticipated financial burden, making their new home unaffordable.
This practice, known as “spot assessment,” is both unconstitutional and in violation of state statutes that regulate tax assessments. After the family mounted an unsuccessful appeal before the local tax board, RLA was retained and Camden-based fellows Becky Brokenborough ’23 and Christian Baji ’23 took the fight to the State Property Tax Court.
When their fellowships ended, RLA fellow Harley Rose ’24 stepped in to see the case through. “Before I started working on this case, the idea of litigating in the Tax Court felt intimidating—you know what they say about lawyers and math—but this case was an incredible learning opportunity for me,” Rose says.
“With the supervision and support of the RLA staff attorneys, I learned how to jump into an unfamiliar practice area and find the rules I needed to be able to navigate the waters. With this experience, I can bring more flexibility into my future practice of law. That is valuable to me because I want to be the type of attorney who is adaptable and able to pursue whatever type of remedy is available for my clients.”
The municipality, perhaps wary of facing prolonged litigation, chose to settle just before trial. The result? A new property assessment more than $100,000 below the original reassessment, saving the family thousands of dollars annually for at least the next three years. “Our clients were thrilled with the outcome, and so were we,” says Andy Rothman, RLA’s managing attorney. “Equally as important, the Tax Court took notice.”
Judge Michael Gilmore, a Rutgers Law School alumnus who recognized RLA on his docket, saw the involvement of RLA in Tax Court as an opportunity for education. Recognizing that property taxation law in New Jersey is a highly specialized area pursued by a relatively small number of attorneys, he and Presiding Judge Mala Sundar offered the entire cohort of RLA fellows an in-depth seminar on Tax Court procedure. The session was held during one of RLA’s daily “rounds,” where fellows and staff attorneys catch up on active cases and discuss legal strategy.
“This case was an incredibly effective lesson for our fellows in that it revealed to them their capacity to learn something new quickly,” Rothman explains. “We showed them that they have the ability to take on any legal challenge, and that’s what being a lawyer should be about.”