The court vacates an order of the Tax Court awarding Green Township, pursuant to the frivolous litigation statute, N.J.S.A. 2A:15-59.1, "$45,589.35 in counsel fees and costs for its defense of [defendant Penny] Holenstein"1 in her official capacity as Municipal Tax Assessor. Wolosky v. Fredon Twp., 31 N.J. Tax 373, 405 (Tax 2019). Because the motion for sanctions was filed 679 days after the entry of a final judgment, and after this court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff's 2016 complaint challenging a property tax assessment, Wolosky v. Fredon Twp., No. A 1980-16 (App. Div. July 24, 2018), we conclude the Tax Court mistakenly exercised its discretion when it reopened the case and considered the motions as timely filed. We therefore vacate the award of sanctions in favor of Green Township.
Plaintiff also appeals from an order denying his motion for counsel fees against defendant Fredon Township. Because the record does not support a finding that Fredon Township acted frivolously, we affirm the denial of plaintiff's motion for sanctions.
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1 We refer to Penny Holenstein individually as Holenstein, and refer to Michael and Penny Holenstein, collectively, as the Holensteins.