Tax Court: VNO 1105 State Hwy 36, L.L.C., by Stop & Shop v.Township of Hazlet,;
Docket Nos. 004038-2013; 008116-2014; 007353-2015; 002076-2016; 003935-2017; opinion by Sundar, J.T.C., decided April 2, 2019. For plaintiff - David B. Wolfe and Eileen Toll (Skoloff & Wolfe, P.C., attorneys); for defendant - James H. Gorman; for New Jersey Division of Taxation and Monmouth County Board of Taxation - Michelline Capistrano Foster (Gurbir S. Grewal,Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney).
Held: Defendant’s motion in limine to bar testimony and report of plaintiff’s proffered expert witness, an assessor in another taxing district, Township of Wall, is granted. The court’s conclusion is based on an application of the underlying principles and provisions of the Local Government Ethics Law (which apply to assessors), which are echoed in the various published guidelines for assessors, including in N.J.A.C. 18:12A-1.9(l), and 18:17- 4.1(a)(3), all of which emphasize the importance of an assessor avoiding any engagement in a private capacity that will reasonably be considered as improper or would impair the integrity of his/her office and position as assessor. An assessor, as a face of the government, and quasi-legislative agent of the State, is expected to possess and exercise high standards of ethics, professionalism, and public responsibility. As such, there is a public expectation that an assessor would not challenge or support challenges to local property tax assessments set by another assessor. Here, Wall Township assessor’s appearance in support of plaintiff taxpayer’s challenge to defendant assessor’s assessments raises such concerns. The court can control the type and nature of testimony to be proffered, and also decide whether the individual being proffered as a witness can be accepted since it can proceed in any manner compatible with R. 1:1-2(a).