Wilshire Oil Co. v. Jefferson Township

In Wilshire Oil Co. v. Jefferson Township, 17 N.J. Tax 583 (Tax Ct.1998) the taxpayer was unable to produce a witness, and then sought to call the tax assessor, who was present in the room. The county tax board refused to allow the taxpayer to present evidence by the assessor and granted the township's motion for dismissal for lack of prosecution. The Tax Court reversed the dismissal, noting that dismissal for lack of prosecution is a drastic remedy that should be granted only in the most egregious circumstances. Id. at 585. In reaching this conclusion, the Wilshire Oil Co. court noted that the taxpayer should have been permitted to call the tax assessor not only because the taxpayer's attorney "could have served the assessor with a subpoena when the hearing commenced," but also because the "board had the inherent authority to require the assessor ... to testify" without a subpoena. 17 N.J. Tax at 589. Allowing the assessor to testify "could have satisfied the requirement that a taxpayer's appearance before a county board be more than a sham." Ibid.