Skip to site navigation Skip to main content Skip to footer content Skip to Site Search page Skip to People Search page

Alerts and Updates

Will Your Non-Profit Hospital Pay Property Taxes in New Jersey?

March 23, 2016

Will Your Non-Profit Hospital Pay Property Taxes in New Jersey?

March 23, 2016

Read below

Given the evolution of small community non-profit hospitals to modern-day regional or inter-state non-profit health systems, a careful examination of the issues associated with the historical property tax exemption afforded to non-profit hospitals is warranted.

In the wake of the June 25, 2015, decision of the New Jersey Tax Court in AHS Hospital Corp., d/b/a Morristown Memorial Hospital v. Town of Morristown,[1] and the hospital’s subsequent $15.5 million settlement with the town, more than a dozen municipalities are pursuing tax appeals that challenge the non-profit status of hospitals throughout the State of New Jersey. With the April 1, 2016, deadline for filing tax appeals approaching, additional cases may soon be filed against New Jersey’s 62 non-profit hospitals.

This flurry of tax appeals comes in response to the Morristown Memorial Hospital case, in which the New Jersey Tax Court found that the Morristown Memorial Hospital (“MMH”) failed to satisfy its burden of proof to establish that it met the criteria to qualify for property tax exemption pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.6 for the tax years 2006, 2007 and 2008. The court found that the MMH’s property, a 1.1 million square foot campus housing 700 beds and providing a comprehensive range of hospital services, failed to satisfy the third prong of the test for non-profit status set forth in Paper Mill Playhouse v. Millburn Twp.: whether the activities on the property are conducted for profit.[2]

To address this issue, the tax court examined the benefits to the non-profit hospital and to both related and unrelated for-profit entities from the activities on the subject property. The court found that MMH used its property for a profit-making purpose based upon the entanglement and comingling of efforts and activities with various for-profit entities, such as captive physician practices, affiliated for-profit entities with common executives, and other related and unrelated for-profit entities. The tax court also found that MMH failed to meet its burden to establish the reasonableness of the compensation paid to its executives, and that its contracts with employed physicians demonstrated a profit-making purpose, in violation of the profit test under Paper Mill Playhouse.

The Morristown Memorial Hospital court’s analysis reflects a focus upon the unfairness of allowing a property tax exemption for non-profit hospitals that operate with arrangements similar to for-profit hospitals that are required to pay property tax, concluding that “modern non-profit hospitals are essentially legal fictions” that do not resemble their historical predecessors for which statutory property tax exemptions were originally established. The tax court called for legislative action: “If the property tax exemption for modern non-profit hospitals is to exist through all of New Jersey going forward, then it is a function of the Legislature and not the courts to promulgate what the terms and conditions will be.”

Following Morristown Memorial Hospital, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill in January 2016 that would have preserved the property tax exemption and required all non-profit hospitals in New Jersey to pay certain fees in lieu of property taxes. Under the bill, hospitals would have paid the host municipality a fee of $2.50 per day per hospital bed and $250 per day for each satellite emergency care facility, with fees scheduled to rise two percent annually for inflation. However, Governor Chris Christie failed to sign the bill into law before the conclusion of the legislative term in January and the bill expired.

On Friday, March 18, Governor Christie proposed a two-year moratorium on property tax litigation against non-profit hospitals and the establishment of a special commission to evaluate the property tax exemption law. The proposed Property Tax Exemption Study Commission’s mission would be to undertake a comprehensive review of New Jersey’s property tax exemption law and develop proposals for consideration by the executive branch and the legislature. The commission would include as its chair the State Treasurer, as well as the commissioners of Health and Community Affairs, the Secretary of Higher Education, and the Executive Director of the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority, along with four members with expertise in property taxes appointed by the governor with input from the legislature.

Given the evolution of small community non-profit hospitals to modern-day regional or inter-state non-profit health systems, a careful examination of the issues associated with the historical property tax exemption afforded to non-profit hospitals is warranted. Regardless of this evolution, modern-day non-profit hospital systems still provide a valuable and legitimate public or charitable purpose—the provision of necessary healthcare services that might otherwise not be available to the public at large. This purpose could be detrimentally impacted by imposing an undue property tax burden. These issues call for a resolution by the executive and legislative branches of government rather than an ad hoc determination by a court in the context of litigation.

Governor Christie’s plan will require legislation to implement the proposed moratorium on property tax litigation involving non-profit hospitals. While it is clear that a careful study of property tax exemption issues is warranted, legislation that curtails the jurisdiction of the court to address property tax issues may be subject to challenge on a number of state constitutional grounds. For example, the new law may be subject to challenge based upon violation of separation of powers as an unwarranted encroachment upon judicial power, or as unconstitutional special legislation that improperly affords privileges to one class of non-profits but not others, without a reasonable basis for the classifications or the exclusion. Further, it is not clear that a moratorium that impacts pending cases could withstand court scrutiny. Whether and how these issues will be addressed will depend in large part upon the final form of any statute that may be signed into law, and the context in which its interpretation is presented.

For Further Information

If you would like more information about this Alert, please contact James J. Ferrelli, any of the attorneys in our Health Law Practice Group or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Notes

[1] 28 N.J. Tax 456 (2015).

[2] 95 N.J. 503 (1984).

Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.