Hackensack Water Company v. Borough of Old Tappan

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Schreiber, J.

This case presents a difficult problem in real property tax valuation involving the assessment under N. J. S. A. 54:30A-52 of land beneath a reservoir created and owned by the Hackensack Water Company, a private water public utility. The municipal taxing authority is the Borough of Old Tappan.

I

The background of this controversy is as follows. In the late 1950’s, the taxpayer, Hackensack Water Company, purchased 940.805 acres of natural basin property along the Hackensack River in the Borough of Old Tappan. The Company excavated the land…