Susan A. Feeney

Hackensack Meridian Health—Impact on omitted assessments filed against tax exempt hospitals

Defended against an appeal by the Borough of Red Bank in the Appellate Division seeking to overturn successful summary judgment motion in the Tax Court dismissing the Borough’s omitted assessment appeals for the 2014 and 2015 tax years. The Appellate Division, in upholding the lower court’s ruling and analysis, further held that the Borough should have filed its complaints before April 1 of the relevant tax years. Further, the Appellate Division rejected the Borough’s position that it was owed discovery in regard to its theory that there was a “change in use” at the property to trigger an omitted assessment because the Borough could not set forth what discovery it sought to corroborate its theory. The Appellate Division agreed with the lower court that the discovery sought was nothing more than a “fishing expedition.” This decision will have a substantial impact on the omitted assessments filed in numerous municipalities against tax exempt hospitals and their properties as a result of the Atlantic Health System v. Morristown case. 

Hackensack Meridian Health—Impact on property tax exemption appeals for all not for profit hospitals

Defended against a summary judgment motion on behalf of Hackensack Meridian Health regarding the Palisades Medical Center property tax appeal. North Bergen alleged that the hospital property was not exempt and should be returned to the municipal tax rolls for the 2016 and 2017 tax years. Denying the motion, the judge agreed that there were numerous issues of material fact regarding the use and operation of the hospital, that the holding in Atlantic Health System v. Morristown was not binding on the court, and that each exemption appeal was factually complex and fact sensitive, with the record requiring further development. This decision impacts property tax exemption appeals for all not for profit hospitals.

New Jersey hospital—Community service agreement  

Represented a significant New Jersey hospital in negotiating a community service agreement with a New Jersey municipality. The city was challenging the tax exempt status of our client’s various hospital purpose properties located in the city. Settled at an annual $4 million payment, which was $61 million less annually than the city’s initial settlement proposal. All currently exempt properties will remain exempt for at least the next six years. Settlement of the matter also resulted in the city taking steps to approve a new state of the art medical facility in the city to be built by our client.

Medical center—Property tax exempt status retained

Defended a tax appeal filed by a New Jersey municipality against our medical center client. The city filed appeals against our client and surrounding properties challenging its exempt status for the 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 tax years. The total potential tax liability if the city was successful was, at a minimum, $20 million ($5 million per year). Worked out a settlement of the litigation based on a community service contribution agreement resulting in the properties retaining their property tax exempt status, and payments by our client to the city of $459,900 per year for seven years and an additional $335,500 per year for seven years for public health support in the city and to support its community center and programs for youth and senior populations. The total amount to be paid over seven years is the equivalent to what the city wanted as a payment for one year.

Developer—Pioneering redevelopment work in Newark

Assisted a developer that undertook a $100 million redevelopment project in the City of Newark to construct luxury residential housing units, retail space, and amenity space in a previously vacant building, providing property valuation, redevelopment, real estate, and tax abatement and incentive advice in this first of its kind project to use financing under the Redevelopment Area Bond Financing law in Newark. 

Contract purchaser of low income housing—Long Term Tax Exemption agreement

Negotiated a 30-year tax exemption under the Long Term Tax Exemption Law with the City of Paterson for our client, a contract purchaser of a low income senior citizen housing project that plans to substantially rehabilitate the project to improve the units and common areas within the building. The estimated savings to our client over the term of the agreement is approximately $6 million. This is one of the first Long Term Tax Exemption agreements approved in the City of Paterson in almost eight years.  

Ironbound—Expansion of NJ’s definition of marine terminal facility

Represented Ironbound in a case that broadly expanded the definition of “marine terminal facility” under the New Jersey sales tax statute, achieving summary judgment for the client based on a finding that the statutory exemption in NJSA 54:32B-8.12 applies to Ironbound’s storage and labor fees charged for chassis repairs because its facilities are marine terminal facilities for purposes of the exemption.

Hunterdon Medical Center—Expansion of NJ’s definition of hospital purpose

Represented Hunterdon Medical Center in the New Jersey Supreme Court against the Township of Readington, securing a holding that under the property tax exemption statute (NJSA 54:4-3.6), any medical or diagnostic service that a hospital patient may require, whether pre-admission, during a hospital stay, or post-admission, presumptively constitutes a core “hospital purpose” under the exemption statute, and that when an off-site facility provides such services, the test for tax exemption also requires consideration of the degree to which the off-site facility’s activities operationally are integrated and supervised by hospital personnel.

NJSBA—Prime Accounting Dept. v. Township of Carney’s Point

Represented the New Jersey State Bar Association as amicus pro bono before the New Jersey Supreme Court in the case of Prime Accounting Dept. v. Township of Carney’s Point, writing the Petition for Certification and arguing the case on behalf of the NJSBA; in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Appellate Division, which had affirmed the Tax Court, holding the misdesignation of the plaintiff in the complaint did not deprive the Tax Court of subject matter jurisdiction. 

NJSBA—Opinion No. 17-2012 of the Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics

Represented the New Jersey State Bar Association as amicus pro bono before the New Jersey Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court reversed a decision of the ACPE and held that volunteer lawyers staffing a bankruptcy clinic do not face a conflict of interest and, with appropriate safeguards, a volunteer attorney can represent a low-income debtor in a no-asset chapter 7 bankruptcy matter even if the attorney’s firm represents one or more of the debtor’s creditors in unrelated matters.