EMERSON, N.J.—The Tax Court of New Jersey has set trial dates of Nov. 5 and Nov. 6 to determine whether a property tax exemption previously applied to the Armenian Home Foundation’s Nursing and Rehabilitation Center should also apply to the five tax years since its closure in 2021, from 2022 through 2026.
We reached out to local officials and attorneys for comment on the upcoming Tax Court trial but did not hear back immediately.
According to a review by Pascack Press of online tax assessments for the Armenian Home Foundation property, the disputed property tax bills total more than $800,000, excluding the also-disputed 2021 charge for eight months at full property tax assessment.
New Jersey Tax Court Judge Frederick Raffetto said the trial on whether the Armenian Home’s prior tax exemption should apply to the years since its closure would likely last only two days, on Nov. 5 and Nov. 6. After that, he said, another trial may be necessary to determine the property’s valuation for the tax years in question if the parties are unable to settle the matter.
The Armenian Home for Nursing and Rehabilitation closed its doors in April 2021 after eight decades in Emerson. The facility had a total of 86 beds. (Currently, the Armenian Home Foundation is proposing a 122-unit assisted living facility on the site. The next—and possibly final—hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. at Borough Hall.)
According to court documents filed in prior tax appeals, the Armenian Home Foundation contends it still occupies and operates the facility, using it for monthly board meetings, administrative functions, and its on-site storage needs.
The Armenian Home Foundation believes those operations qualify the facility for tax-exempt status, while the borough contends that is not the case. Local officials contend that because the facility is no longer providing skilled nursing care or rehabilitation, it does not qualify for a tax exemption.
According to court documents, the nursing home had 55 residents on site in March 2020, but approximately 30 residents passed away during the pandemic. Due to the loss of residents and an inability to attract new residents, the foundation discontinued operations and transferred the remaining residents to other nearby facilities before closure, the documents state.
On Aug. 12, the Tax Court issued its second case management order on the multiyear tax litigation, noting it will first determine whether the Armenian Home Foundation property should be considered tax-exempt during the years since its closure on April 4, 2021.
On the Emerson tax collector’s website, the property at 70 Main Street shows the following “open” balances: 2022, $192,736.72; 2023, $189,963.73; 2024, $171,604.67; 2025, $153,031.51; and 2026, $129,226.77, for a total of $836,563.40. The court documents do not specifically mention the disputed tax amounts, and officials could not immediately confirm the total.
The property at 70 Main Street is listed as Block 702, Lot 2, with an assessed land value of $2,835,000 and improvements valued at $605,600, for a total assessed value of $3,440,600.
In his order setting the trial dates, Judge Raffetto noted that the Armenian Home Foundation contended there had been “no changes to the use of subject property” six months after the facility’s closure. The foundation had then filed a “Further Statement of Organization Claiming Property Tax Exemption,” which noted that the facility’s structures “are used to further owner’s charitable purpose” and that some employees and the foundation’s board continued to use the property.
However, the judge noted, “determining that there was a cessation of tax-exempt use (active nursing operations at the subject property),” the borough’s tax assessor levied an eight-month added assessment for the 2021 tax year. The foundation then appealed the extra 2021 tax levy to the Bergen County Board of Taxation, which reinstated the tax exemption.
The Tax Court judge wrote that the borough subsequently appealed that judgment to the Tax Court. Moreover, the local tax assessor denied the tax exemption for the Armenian Home property, a 3.5-acre tract, for successive tax years from 2022 through 2026 and assessed the property as fully taxable.
Counsel for Emerson (John Conte, Meyerson Fox & Conte) and the Armenian Home Foundation (Daniel Pollak, Brach Eichler LLC) must provide their respective witness lists, lists of exhibits to be introduced at trial, stipulations of fact, pretrial briefs, and motions by Oct. 29, 2026, according to the Tax Court order. Counsel must notify the court by Oct. 8 if they have a conflict or wish to request a virtual trial.
At a Sept. 24, 2025, special meeting, the council approved Resolution 241-25, which authorized attorney Conte to finalize negotiations for a memorandum of agreement with the Armenian Home Foundation to settle tax appeal cases for the years 2022 through 2025.
However, that settlement was not finalized, and officials declined to reveal what happened. Pascack Press submitted a public records request for a copy of the MOA, and we were told there were no “responsive records” because the case was unresolved.
The public can access court documents through the NJ Courts Judiciary eCourts System—Tax by searching for case number 000275-2022.