NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT APPROVAL OF 

THE TAX COURT COMMITTEE ON OPINIONS

TAX COURT OF NEW JERSEY

210 South Broad Street, Fifth Floor

MARY SIOBHAN BRENNAN Trenton, New Jersey 08608

JUDGE 609 815-2922, Ext. 54560

Fax: 609 815-3079

January 19, 2024

Rodman E. Honecker 

Attorney for Plaintiff

WINDELS MARX LANE & MITTENDORF, LLP

120 Albany Street Plaza 

New Brunswick, NJ 08901 

William J. Maslo, Esq., 

Attorney for Defendant 

Law Division

CITY OF JERSEY CITY

280 Grove Street 

Jersey City, NJ 07302 

Via ECourts

RE: 75 JERSEY CITY, L.L.C. V CITY OF JERSEY CITY

Docket Nos.: 003415- 2022

Dear Counsellors:

This letter opinion sets forth the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law on Plaintiff’s

R. 4:25-8 motion for an Order enforcing litigant’s rights and compelling Jersey City to comply

with the terms of a Stipulation of Settlement. R. 1:10-3. For the reasons explained below, the court

grants Plaintiff’s motion to compel payment of the 2022 tax refund as well as any interest accrued 

pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:3-27.2 but denies Plaintiff’s request for attorney’s fees and costs related

to the filing of this motion.
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I. Background and Procedural History

75 Jersey City, LLC (“Plaintiff”) filed four direct tax appeals with the Tax Court of New Jersey 

(years 2019 to 2022) in connection with the assessment of real property it owns in Jersey City, 

more specifically identified as 75 Montgomery Street (Block 14301, Lot 7) (“the Property”). A 

2023 tax appeal was filed with the Hudson County Board of Taxation for tax year 2023 and was 

not part of the Tax Court filings. 

After a culmination of negotiations, on August 4, 2023, the parties filed a Stipulation of 

Settlement with the court in resolution of Plaintiff’s pending 2019 through 2022 tax appeals. 

Plaintiff agreed to withdraw its appeals for tax years 2019 through 2021 and would receive a 

reduction in the assessment for the 2022 tax year. The Stipulation of Settlement required payment 

within sixty (60) days of the date of Judgment. The Stipulation also addressed proposed relief for 

the 2023 and 2024 assessments. 

On August 7, 2023, the Court entered Judgment in accordance with the parties’ Stipulation of 

Settlement. Payment of the 2022 refund was due sixty (60) days thereafter, which was October 6, 

2023. Jersey City issued the agreed-upon refund for the 2023 tax year (totaling $53,069.65) and 

applied the tax refund for 2024 in the form of a quarterly adjustment. However, Plaintiffs refund 

for the 2022 tax year (approximately $53,069.65) to date has not been paid. 

Plaintiff filed this motion, pursuant to R. 1.10-3, in aid of litigant’s rights to enforce the

settlement agreement and to compelJersey City to issue the 2022 tax refund. Plaintiff also requests 

accrued interest and reasonable attorney fees.

The motion is unopposed.
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II. Legal Analysis

The issue presented to this court is whether Jersey City is in breach of the terms of the 

Stipulation of Settlement, and whether Jersey City owes Plaintiff statutory interest on the 2022 tax 

refund, as well as attorney fees and costs for the filing of the motion. 

Plaintiff requests the court grant three items in its motion: (1) to compel payment of the 

refund due for the 2022 tax year; (2) for Plaintiff to receive accrued and unpaid interest on the 

2022 refund pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:3-27.2, with interest accruing for the period beginning

October 6, 2023 up until the refund is received; and (3) for Plaintiff to receive an award of 

reasonable attorney fees and costs for having to make this motion to the court. 

Compel Compliance of Parties’ Stipulation of Settlement

The fully executed Stipulation of Settlement was filed with the court on August 7, 2023, 

and is legally binding on both parties. That document provides for a reduction in Plaintiff’s tax 

assessment for 2022 tax year, resulting in a tax refund to be paid to Plaintiff against past tax 

payments. The manner of payment for those refunds is referred to in paragraph 4 of the Stipulation 

of Settlement.

Paragraph 4 provides:

All refunds as a result of the settlement set forth herein shall be 

payable to and forwarded to ‘75 Jersey City, L.L.C.’ within sixty

(60) days of the date of Judgment.

As the 2022 tax refund was not received within the sixty (60) day period set forth in the 

Stipulation of Settlement, Plaintiff is entitled to, and the court will issue, an Order compelling 

payment of the 2022 tax refund. 
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Accrued and Unpaid Interests Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:3-27.2

Plaintiff argues Jersey City’s failure to pay the agreed 2022 refund results in the 

implementation of N.J.S.A. 54:3-27.2, which requires 5% accrued interest on tax refunds not

issued sixty (60) days from the day of Judgment. The pertinent part of the statute is as follows:

In the event that a taxpayer is successful in an appeal from an 

assessment on real property, the respective taxing district shall refund 

any excess taxes paid, together with interest thereon from the date of 

payment at a rate of five percent per annum or one percentage point 

above the prime rate assessed for each month or fraction thereof, 

compounded annually at the end of each year, from the date the tax 

originally was due or paid, whichever date is later, until the date of 

actual payment, whichever interest rate is lesser...”

[N.J.S.A. 54:3-27.2]

Although the Stipulation of Settlement is silent on the application of the statute, the Tax 

Court has held that N.J.S.A. 54:3-27.2 applies to any taxpayer who “is successful in an appeal

from an assessment on real property,” including “cases which have been settled.” Waterview

Village-Community Realty Mgt v. Ventnor City, 4 N.J. Tax 262, 267 (Tax 1982). The Tax Court

has referred to N.J.S.A. 54:3-27.2 as the “default rule” which applies whether or not a stipulation

of settlement makes direct reference to the statute. Dickerson v. Town, 31 N.J. Tax 541, 559 (Tax

2020). Parties, however, may agree to waive the default statutory interest through the language of 

their stipulation of settlement. Id. 

Since the parties’ Stipulation of Settlement does not expressly waive statutory interest, the 

default rule applies, and Plaintiff is entitled to accrued and unpaid interest pursuant to N.J.S.A.

54:3-27.2.
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Attorney Fees and Costs

Plaintiff also seeks to recover reasonable attorney’s fees in connection with the filing of 

this motion. The court is unpersuaded that Jersey City’s actions rise to a level to permit reasonable 

attorney fees to be paid to Plaintiff. 

Rule 1:10-3 provides for a mechanism for relief when a litigant's preexisting court-ordered 

rights have been violated. N. Jersey Media Grp. Inc. v. State, 451 N.J. Super. 282, 296, (App. Div.

2017). It permits the “court in its discretion make an allowance for counsel fees to be paid by any 

party to the action to a party accorded relief under this rule.” R. 1:10-3. The Appellate Division

has found that such relief “is not for the purpose of punishment, but is a coercive measure to 

facilitate the enforcement of the court order.” Ridley v. Dennison, 298 N.J. Super. 373, 381, (App.

Div. 1997). The particular manner in which compliance may be sought is “left to the court's sound 

discretion.” Id.

Plaintiff admits that Jersey City has paid the 2023 tax refund of $53,069.65, as well as the 

2024 tax refund in the form of a tax credit. Unlike the situation where a municipality did not issue 

any tax refund and yet sought to vacate the court’s judgment via motion, here Defendant has 

already issued the majority of the tax refunds according to the agreement between the parties with 

only the 2022 tax refund to be forthcoming. Jersey City is not seeking to vacate the Stipulation of 

Settlement, and it has not opposed this motion. Given Jersey City’s partial compliance with its 

negotiated settlement with Plaintiff, through issuance of the 2023 and 2024 tax refunds, the court 

finds attorney’s fees are not needed to facilitate enforcement of the 2022 Judgment. 

III. Conclusion

The court grants Plaintiff’s motion in part and denies in part. The court grants Plaintiff’s motion 

to compel Jersey City to pay the refund due to Plaintiff for the 2022 tax year, and to pay Plaintiff
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the entitled statutory interest pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:3-27.2 with interest accruing from the period 

October 6, 2023, until the date of payment. The court, however, denies attorney fees and related 

costs associates with this motion. 

/s/ Mary Siobhan Brennan 

Hon. Mary Siobhan Brennan, J.T.C.