Owners of Minute Maid property seek huge reduction
By: Vic Monaco
HIGHTSTOWN The borough could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in local tax revenue if the owners of the Minute Maid plant property are successful in a tax appeal they have filed.
The owners filed the appeal in April seeking to reduce the assessment of the land and improvements in the borough, the latter comprising the bulk of the former plant, from about $8.79 million to $3.85 million, according to Borough Tax Assessor Ken Pacera.
In 2006, the property generated $500,762 in tax revenue for the borough, according to Mr. Pacera. That figure would drop to $219,450 under the 2006 tax rate, which is still in effect, if the appeal were successful, he said.
A $281,312 loss is equal to about 13 cents on the local tax rate.
The borough is looking at a potential tax hike as high as 19 cents, which would mean a much greater loss in the event of a successful tax appeal.
Asked if it would be fair to say that a successful appeal would be catastrophic to the cash-strapped borough, Mr. Pacera said, "It would be pretty significant. The borough, obviously, is very concerned."
Borough Council President Walter Sikorski called the appeal a "most unfortunate circumstance."
"Hopefully it will not come to fruition," he added in regard to a successful appeal.
Mayor Bob Patten did not return calls seeking comment.
Mr. Pacera said the owners’ figure of $3.85 million is largely based on two facts: last year they bought the property, which also lies in East Windsor, for $8.5 million; and the borough’s assessment ratio stands at about 45 percent.
"If they can prove to the court that the property is worth $8.5 million, it’s up to the judge but the judge would normally look at our ratio," Mr. Pacera said.
Borough Attorney Fred Raffetto declined to discuss the specifics of the case, citing the pending hearing, but he did acknowledge that sale prices are generally the best indicators of proper assessments. Circumstances of sales can sometimes serve to discredit sale prices as indicators of true fair market value, he added.
A lawyer representing the ownership group in its efforts to develop the land could not be reached for comment.
The property comprises 37 acres, of which 16 are in the borough.
The land and improvements in the township are assessed at $948,000, with the municipality’s 2006 tax revenue share being $4,550, according to township Tax Assessor Rick Kline. The big difference between the two towns’ assessments is that almost all of the plant is situated on borough land.
Mr. Kline acknowledged that the owners have also filed an appeal of their township assessment, and declined further comment because of that pending case.
Mr. Pacera explained that the borough appeal was initially filed in state Superior Court in Trenton, which moved it along to the state Tax Court in Trenton. He said it is the norm for a case involving such a large piece of property to be heard by the state court.
No date has been set for the hearing but Mr. Pacera said it is expected to occur before a county mandated tax re-evaluation of the borough. That was initially required to be done by 2008 but was recently pushed back a year. That occurred, according to borough officials, because a delay in the state approving the borough’s contract with the firm performing the re-evaluation.
The township also has been ordered to re-evaluate all of its properties and plans to get that done for 2008.
The Minute Maid property was sold in May 2006 to Bruckner Southern LLC of Monsey, N.Y. and Mercer Street Warehouse LLC (Victoria Classics), of Edison, the entities that filed the appeals.
Representatives for the owners presented a conceptual development plan last week calling for the demolition of the plant and the construction of 246 condominiums and townhouses and 60,515 square feet of retail space on the borough side of the property.

