Mayor and Aldermen of Jersey City v. Township of Montville

• Decision Date: 16 January 1913
• Citation: Mayor and Aldermen of Jersey City v. Montville Tp, 85 A. 838, 84 N.J.L. 43 (N.J. 1913)
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court
• Parties: MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF JERSEY CITY v. TOWNSHIP OF MONTVILLE

85 A. 838

84 N.J.L. 43

MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF JERSEY CITY

v. MONTVILLE TP.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Jan. 16, 1913.

Certiorari by the Mayor and Aldermen of Jersey City against the Township of Montville to review a tax assessment.Proceedings affirmed.

Argued before SWAYZE, J., under the statute.

James J. Murphy, of Newark, for prosecutor.

Philip R. Van Duyne, of Newark, for defendant.

SWAYZE, J.On May 20, 1911, the property subjected to the present tax belonged to the Jersey City Water Supply Company, and was assessed to them.On October 10th that company conveyed the property to the mayor and aldermen of Jersey City, and the city now claims exemption from the whole or a portion of the tax.I think this claim of the city cannot be allowed.The Tax Act requires that property shall be taxed as of the 20th of May.In this respect it is like the act of 1866(Laws 1866, p. 1078), under which it was held that the assessment must relate to that day, and that real estate could not be assessed in the name of one who became an owner subsequent to May 20th.Shippen v. Hardin, 34 N. J. Law, 79.It follows almost necessarily that exemptions from taxation must be as of that day, and that land is not exempt because subsequently it passes to an owner who is exempt.We are not left however to this inference.Section 7 of the act(4 C. S.p. 5087) requires the assessor to enter on his list a description of real property exempt from taxation.Section 22 required the county board of taxation not later than the third Tuesday in September to fill out a table of aggregates showing among other things the total valuation of property exempt from taxation, specifying among other items the amount of public property other than school property, and the total value of exempt property in each taxing district.By the act of 1906(4 C. S. p. 5118, pl. 37s), the assessors were required to have their duplicates before the county board on the first Tuesday of August.The county board was required to perform the duties of county boards of equalization or other county boards charged with the review of the tax assessments, of tax lists, and of the county board of assessors (4 C. S. p. 5119, pl. 37t), and to fix the rates per dollar "which shall be such as according to the valuation on the duplicate will be sufficient to produce the sum required."The act requires the duplicate thus prepared to be delivered to the collectors on or before October 1st. C. S. p. 5119, pl. 37w, The scheme obviously requires that the amount of the ratables and the rate of taxation shall be fixed before October 1st.This is impossible if the amount of the ratables is subject to variation by reason of a change of ownership after October 1st, which shall render the property exempt from that tax levy.The fact that the property is exempt at some time before the tax is payable is not important Under our statutory scheme, taxes are imposed not for a particular year, calendar or fiscal, but a particular day.State v. United N. J. R. R. & C. Co., 76 N. J. Law, 72, 78, 68 Atl. 796.That day in the case of the general property tax is May 20th.On May 20, 1911, the property in question was taxable to the Jersey City Water Supply Company, and there was no exemption.

The fact that...