SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A lawsuit has been filed against the South Brunswick Township and the County Tax Board for not performing a reevaluation of the township in over 30 years.
The lawsuit, filed by Better Homes LLC and Mildred Ramos, alleges that warehousing has been significantly under-taxed in South Brunswick, which in turn has been hurting residential homeowners.
According to the lawsuit, the undervalued warehouses are not paying their fair share of taxes, which directly impacts the amounts residential homeowners must pay.
Although Ramos’ postal address is listed as Monroe Township, her home is physically located in South Brunswick and pays property taxes to South Brunswick, the lawsuit says.
“Upon information and belief, South Brunswick has not undertaken a property tax reevaluation since the late 1980s. As a result, the criteria used to assess property values for tax purposes is completely out of touch with actual property values of the 21st century,” the lawsuit says.
One of the metrics for assessing whether the municipality’s property tax scheme complies with the true market value standard is to compare the aggregated assessed value of properties to the aggregated true value of properties.
According to records compiled by the Board of Commissioners for 2024, taxable property in South Brunswick has an aggregated assessed value of $4.2 billion, but had an aggregated true value of $11.5 billion, the lawsuit said.
“This results in a Director’s Ratio of 36.7%, a result woefully below the 85% threshold used to determine compliance with the True Market Value Standard,” the lawsuit said.
“A contributing factor for the shockingly low Director’s Ratio for South Brunswick lies with the Township’s failure to conduct a reevaluation since the 1980s. Because South Brunswick has not undertaken evaluation in decades, there is a vast discrepancy in how property featuring constructed homes are assessed, in comparison to property with older construction.”
Ramos’ property, which was purchased and constructed in 2024, sits on two acres of land and has been assessed at $456,000. But the neighboring properties of older construction have been assessed at markedly lower values, the lawsuit said.
The unequal treatment of industrial, commercial, and apartment properties has also contributed to this, the lawsuit alleges.
Attorney Elliot D. Ostrove of Epstein Ostrove, LLC, who filed the lawusit, said that while researching this lawsuit, they found that the Exit 8A warehousing buildings are underpaying their share of taxes by as much as $120,000,000, if not more.
The average taxes for those warehousing buildings are approximately $1.25 per square foot. But new construction, which has updated assessments, is approximately $4 per square foot, Ostrove noted.
The plaintiffs are seeking an order directing South Brunswick and the County to conduct a complete municipality-wide reevaluation on an expedited basis.
"We were forced to file a lawsuit because Mayor Carley and the County Tax Board refuse to revalue the town, which is giving tax benefits to warehouse owners at the expense of South Brunswick homeowners," Ostrove told Patch.
"We anticipate filing additional lawsuits to cover all of Exit 8A. The County’s refusal to perform a revaluation is causing warehouses to pay as much as $120,000,000 less than their fair share of taxes. That is hurting every residential homeowner in those towns."
Other named in the lawsuit include the Commissioners of the Middlesex County Board of Taxation, the NJ Division of Taxation, and the Director of the NJ Division of Taxation.
When contacted, the township said they received the lawsuit and it has been forwarded to the township attorneys for proper review.
“The Township will be consulting with the Middlesex County Board of Taxation along with other defendants listed in this Complaint,” the township said.