54:4-23.6. Qualifications for valuation, assessment, taxation

6. Land which is actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use shall be eligible for valuation, assessment and taxation as herein provided when it meets the following qualifications:

(a) It has been so devoted for at least the two successive years immediately preceding the tax year for which valuation under this act is requested;

(b) The area of such land is not less than five acres when measured in accordance with the provisions of section 11 hereof; and

(c) Application by the owner of such land for valuation hereunder is submitted on or before August 1 of the year immediately preceding the tax year to the assessor of the taxing district in which such land is situated on the form prescribed by the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury;

(d) The assessor may grant an extension of time for filing an application required by this section, which extension shall terminate no later than September 1 of the year immediately preceding the tax year, in any event where it shall appear to the satisfaction of the assessor that failure to file by August 1 was due to (1) the illness of the owner and a certificate of a physician stating that the owner was physically incapacitated and unable to file on or before August 1 and the application is filed with the assessor; or (2) the death of the owner or an immediate member of the owner's family and a certified copy of the death certificate and the application is filed with the assessor by the individual legally responsible for the estate of the owner, or the owner, as the case may be.

As used in this act, "immediate family member" means a person's spouse, child, parent or sibling residing in the same household.

L. 1964, c. 48, s. 6; amended 1970,c.243,s.1; 1987,c.418,s.1.