City Council has authorized the tax assessor to resolve and settle property tax appeal refunds or credits of up to $30,000 per appeal per year.

The resolution (AR-229-18) was unanimously adopted during the governing body’s combined pre-conference and regular meetings on Nov. 19. The measure gives the tax assessor the power to resolve and settle tax appeals pending before the Union County Board of Taxation, the Tax Court of New Jersey, or the state Appellate Courts, without approval of City Council.

The resolution was recommended by city counsel, according to City Administrator Cherron Rountree. Similar measures have been previously passed by City Council and a similar resolution is anticipated for 2019.

“We frequently receive a number of smaller settlements that are under the threshold and this allows for maximum efficiency in operating the office,” Rountree said via email. All  tax appeals are reviewed by city counsel and the tax assessor, she said, and the resolution allows for efficient settlements. “Allowing for efficient settlements has lead to a reduction of appeals that go to the tax board,” Rountree said.

There were 89 tax appeals filed in 2017. About a third of those already were pending in the Tax Court for prior years. Of the new cases, there were seven reductions: five were stipulated by the city totaling a reduction of $44,990 in reductions and two were granted by the board that totaled $46,200 in assessment reductions. “This continues a downward trend in tax appeals with a minimal loss in tax ratables for Rahway,” she said.

The most recent tax appeal settlements approved by City Council have been for multiple years. In July, a settlement was approved for the Best Western hotel on Routes 1/9 dating back to 2009 and totaling some $165,000.

The number of tax appeals filed and won spiked across New Jersey in the years after the Great Recession. In Rahway, tax appeals peaked in 2012 when 570 appeals were filed and more than $500,000 in refunds was granted to more than 300 properties. A reduction in assessments topped $8 million. Tax appeals have since been on the decline in recent years.

In 2011, the city settled a large, multi-year tax appeal with Merck & Co. That settlement included some cash payments by the city and covered the years 2010 through 2012. Merck also agreed to withdraw an appeal for 2009 and not to appeal again for a number of years.