What is the valuation date for a New Jersey property tax assessment?

New Jersey assesses property as of a fixed annual snapshot date, and getting your evidence aligned to it is one of the most common rookie mistakes.

October 1 of the pre-tax year is the assessment date. The NJ Division of Taxation guide states: "Once a revaluation is complete all assessments in the municipality must be at 100% of true market value as of October 1 of the pre-tax year," and labels October 1 of the pre-tax year "the annual assessment date." In other words, the value on your 2026 assessment reflects what the property was worth on October 1, 2025.

Your evidence must precede that date. The same guide instructs: "All evidence should precede the October 1 assessment date, especially property sales used for comparison." A sale that closed in, say, November or December will generally be given less weight or rejected, because it post-dates the valuation snapshot. Choose comparable sales that closed on or reasonably before October 1 of the pre-tax year.

Condition is measured as of October 1 too. Damage, incomplete renovation, or other condition issues matter to the appeal only if they existed as of the October 1 assessment date. A roof that failed in February of the tax year does not change a value set the prior October 1 — though it may matter for the next year's assessment.

The interplay with deadlines. The assessment is set as of October 1, notices go out in late January/early February, and the appeal is then filed by the April 1 deadline (N.J.S.A. 54:3-21). Keep the two dates distinct: October 1 is what value is being challenged; April 1 is by when you must challenge it.

Because the board will discount post-October-1 sales, lining up your comparables to the correct window is essential to overcoming the presumption that the assessment is correct.