Determination of eligibility of land for valuation, assessment, taxation

13. Eligibility of land for valuation, assessment, and taxation under this act shall be determined for each tax year separately. Application shall be submitted by the owner to the assessor of the taxing district in which such land is situated on or before August 1 or September 1, if an extension of time has been granted by the assessor under section 6 of P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.6), of the year immediately preceding the tax year for which such valuation, assessment, and taxation are sought. If the application is filed by delivery through the mails or a commercial courier or messenger service, compliance with the time limit for filing shall be established if there is satisfactory evidence that it was committed for delivery to the United States Postal Service or the courier or messenger service within the time allowed for filing. In the case of a courier or messenger service, the application shall be received by the tax assessor of the taxing district within three days after the statutory filing date. An application once filed with the assessor for the ensuing tax year may not be withdrawn by the applicant after August 1 or after September 1, in cases where an extension of time for filing the application has been granted by the assessor, of the pretax year.

If a change in use of the land occurs between August 1 and December 31 of the pretax year, either the assessor or the county board of taxation shall deny or nullify such application and, after examination and inquiry, shall determine the full and fair value of said land under the valuation standard applicable to other land in the taxing district and shall assess the same, according to such value. If, notwithstanding such change of use, the land is valued, assessed, and taxed under the provisions of this act in the ensuing year, the assessor shall enter an assessment, as an added assessment against such land, in the "Added Assessment List" for the particular year involved in the manner prescribed in P.L.1941, c.397 (C.54:4-63.1 et seq.). The amount of the added assessment shall be in an amount equal to the difference, if any, between the assessment imposed under this act and the assessment which would have been imposed had the land been valued and assessed as other land in the taxing district. The enforcement and collection of additional taxes resulting from any additional assessments so imposed shall be as provided by said chapter. The additional assessment imposed under this section shall not affect the roll-back taxes, if any, under section 8 of P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.8).

The application review shall include an on-site inspection of the land at least once every three years. The municipality may impose a fee for an on-site inspection of not more than $25, except that contiguous and non-contiguous parcels of land owned by the same owner would be subject to a single fee.

L.1964,c.48,s.13; amended 1972,c.146,s.1; 1982,c.72,s.1; 1987,c.418,s.2; 1995,c.276,s.5; 2025, c.274, s.2.

54:4-23.13b. Notice of disallowance
1. Where an application for valuation hereunder has been filed by the owner of land within the time provided herein, the assessor of the taxing district in which such land is situated shall, on or before November 1 of the pretax year, forward to such owner a notice of disallowance by regular mail when a claim has been disallowed. The assessor shall set forth in reason or reasons therefor together with a statement notifying the landowner of his right to appeal such determination to the county board of taxation on or before April 1 of the tax year. Any appeal made pursuant to this section shall be governed by the procedures provided for appeals in R.S.54:3-21.

L.1970,c.237,s.1; amended 1995,c.276,s.6.

54:4-23.13c. Eligibility of land for certain use relative to livestock
8. If any application for valuation, assessment and taxation under P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.) made for the 1993 tax year or later, which was denied based on a determination that the use of land for breeding, boarding, raising, rehabilitating, training or grazing of livestock was not an agricultural use which met the eligibility requirements of section 3 of P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.3), and for which an appeal was filed and which is resubmitted after the effective date of P.L.1995, c.276 and approved as a result of the amendments to section 3 of P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.3) by section 1 of P.L.1995, c.276, and to section 5 of P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.5) by section 2 of P.L.1995, c.276, the land for which the application was made shall be deemed to have been eligible for valuation, assessment, and taxation under P.L.1964, c.48 as of the first eligible tax year after the application, and the taxing district shall make retroactive payments to the landowner in the amount of the taxes paid which were in excess of the amount payable if taxed under P.L.1964, c.48.

L.1995,c.276,s.8.