New Jersey property tax appeals: how they work

Which deadline is yours?

New Jersey homeowners appeal to their county board of taxation. Three counties follow an alternate assessment calendar with an earlier deadline; the rest use April 1.^{1, 2}

Somerset County. The county board's 2026 deadlines were April 1, or May 1 in revaluation and reassessment towns, and Somerset isn't on the state's 2026 alternate calendar. Confirm the 2027 date with the board before January 15.⁴

Received, not postmarked. Your petition must reach the county board by the deadline. If the last day falls on a weekend or legal holiday, it moves to the next business day. An appeal that arrives late is dismissed.²

The postcard that starts the clock

Each year your town's assessor mails a Notification of Assessment: a postcard with your current assessment and the preceding year's taxes. On the state's standard calendar it's mailed by February 1.³ In Burlington, Gloucester and Monmouth counties it's mailed by November 15 of the year before, and Burlington says its 2027 notices arrive in November 2026.^{1, 5}

If your assessment changes later, the assessor or county board must tell you by mail within 30 days, and you have 45 days to appeal the change.³

So the number to check is the assessment on the postcard. The Somerset County Board of Taxation suggests contacting your municipal assessor with questions before the end of the year: “You may find that an appeal is not necessary.”⁴

The ratio test: a 15% corridor

In New Jersey, the number on your postcard may not match your home's market value, and that alone isn't an error. Once a town completes a revaluation, all its assessments must be at 100% of true market value. If assessments aren't adjusted every year, they drift away from it.⁶

So each year the Director of the Division of Taxation certifies an average ratio for every town: the percent of true value for an average assessment there. Around it sits the common level range: plus or minus 15% of that ratio. The list for tax year 2027 appeals was certified on September 22, 2026, under Chapter 123 of the Laws of 1973.^{6, 7}

That's why, in New Jersey, comparing your assessment with a sale price tells you little on its own. What matters is your ratio against your town's.

When the ratio of your assessment to your home's true value is above the upper limit, or below the lower limit, the board revises the assessment by applying the average ratio to the true value.² If a town's average ratio is above 100%, the taxable value is the market value.²

What evidence counts

In a New Jersey appeal the burden of proof is on you: you need enough evidence to establish your home's true market value.⁶ That's its value on October 1 of the year before the tax year, and your evidence, especially sales, should come from before that date.^{2, 6}

Comparable sales are acceptable evidence of market value; your neighbors' assessments are not.²

How to file in New Jersey

1. Get Form A-1, the Petition of Appeal. It's a state form, filed with your county board of taxation: one petition for each parcel. Serve copies on your town's assessor and municipal clerk.²

2. Enter two assessments. Your current assessment and the one you're requesting (land, building and total), plus your purchase price and date. There's room for five comparable sales.²

3. Pay the filing fee. It's set by your assessed value. Checks go to the County Tax Administrator, and fees are non-refundable.²

   Under $150,000

   $5

   $150,000 to under $500,000

   $25

   $500,000 to under $1,000,000

   $100

   $1,000,000 or more

   $150

4. File on time, and keep paying. Online or paper depends on the county: Burlington's online filing for 2027 opens December 3, 2026, and Somerset's board asks for paper, by mail or in person.^{4, 5} To appeal, you must have paid the taxes and municipal charges due through the first quarter of the current year; the board may relax this.²

5. Go to the hearing. By law the board must hear and decide appeals within three months of the last day for filing.⁶ You attend (in person, or virtually where your county offers it), choose a summary hearing decided on the evidence you submit, or are represented by a New Jersey attorney. Adjournments are granted only for extraordinary reasons.²

Higher-value homes

If the assessed value is over $1,000,000, you may file a complaint directly with the Tax Court of New Jersey instead.²

If you disagree with the result

A county board judgment can be appealed to the Tax Court within 45 days of its mailing.²

After a judgment

If no one appeals further, the judgment is frozen for that year and the next two, unless the value changes significantly, for example through a town-wide revaluation. You can end the freeze by filing another appeal.²

An appeal can go either way. The petition asks the board to reduce or increase the assessment, and your town may cross-appeal; you'd be notified and could appear. An assessment whose ratio is below the lower limit is revised up by the same test.² Check your ratio before you file.