2nd Roc-Jersey Associates v. Town of Morristown
New Jersey Supreme Court
731 A.2d 1 (1999)

- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
After an economic downturn in the Town of Morristown (defendant), the town established a special improvement district (SID) to enhance its downtown business district. The town placed a special assessment on all property within the district except residential property. New Jersey state law permitted the exclusion of residential property from special assessments. The SID assessment paid for advertising campaigns for downtown businesses, the encouragement of tourism, hospitality guides, programs to recruit businesses to the area, and aesthetic improvements to the downtown, among other things. 2nd Roc-Jersey Associates (plaintiff) sued the town, asserting that the statute permitting the residential exclusion was unconstitutional. Specifically, the state constitution required that property taxes on the same classes of property be uniform. The trial court upheld the special assessment, finding that the assessment was a special assessment that was not required to comply with the constitution’s uniformity requirement. The appellate court affirmed. 2nd Roc-Jersey Associates appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Handler, J.)
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