The final determination of the Director of the New Jersey Division of Taxation denying taxpayers’ applications for a homestead property tax reimbursement for tax years 2009 and 2010 was in accord with controlling law. There was no dispute that the taxpayers met the income eligibility requirement for tax years 2009 and 2010. The director recognized that the taxpayers qualified for the program for both tax years and retained the base year that they previously established. The New Jersey Legislature, however, did not appropriate funds to pay reimbursements to taxpayers who were eligible for the program for tax years 2009 and 2010, but who, like the taxpayers in the case at hand, had income of more than $70,000 in those tax years. The mere fact that the taxpayers fulfilled the eligibility criteria for the program did not entitle them to reimbursement. Placing an income cap on the funding of the program was within the power of the Legislature and the governor.
Hansen v. Director, Division of Taxation, New Jersey Tax Court, No. 012212-2011, August 31, 2012 , ¶401-668
