Chapter 123 (N.J.S.A. 54:51A-6) is the rule a New Jersey county board of taxation applies once it decides what your property is actually worth. It compares your assessment-to-value ratio against your municipality's common level range.
Three things can happen, and only one of them is a win:
Above the range β your assessment is reduced to your proven value multiplied by the municipality's average ratio.
Inside the range β nothing changes, no matter how over-assessed the property looks.
Below the range β the board is required to raise your assessment.
This is why proving a value lower than your assessment is not enough in New Jersey. The band absorbs it.
Chapter 123 is the reason a New Jersey appeal can leave you worse off than not filing. No other state we serve has an outcome where the board is obligated to raise your number.
It also explains a figure that surprises owners: the value we ask for is the common level, not your comparables' sale prices. That is the assessment the board lands on when you win β not our opinion of what your home would sell for.
We run this test before recommending anything, and we refuse the cases that would backfire.
A home in Aberdeen Township is assessed at $385,400. The municipality's average ratio is 100.37%, giving a common level range of 85.31% to 115.43%.
To win, the owner must prove a market value low enough that the assessment-to-value ratio clears 115.43% β not merely a value below $385,400.
If they instead prove the home is worth more than the assessment implies, the ratio drops under 85.31% and the board must increase the assessment.
Yes. If your assessment-to-value ratio falls below the common level range, N.J.S.A. 54:3-22 requires the county board to increase your assessment. It is not discretionary, which is why a weak New Jersey case is worse than no case.
Because a winning appeal is reduced to the common level β your proven value times the municipality's average ratio β not to the sale price of your comparables. That figure is the assessment we request, not a valuation of your home.
The Director of the Division of Taxation certifies an average ratio and common level range for all 564 municipalities each October, effective for the following tax year. The Tax Court can amend them.