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More big-ticket assessment reductions have been approved, with $12.2 million in property knocked off Luzerne County’s tax rolls in July and August, records show.
The county was forced to refund $144,100 to several property owners as a result.
The continued settlement of larger commercial appeals — many dating back to the 2009 countywide reassessment — has strained the county budget. The county spent more than $1.25 million on refunds for commercial cases resolved since 2014.
One of the latest reductions is for a property among the county’s top 10 highest valued: the Amazon warehouse in Hazle Township’s Humboldt Industrial Park.
The Amazon property, which sold for $40.7 million last November, will now be assessed at $30 million — a $2 million reduction.
The Wyoming Valley Country Club in Hanover Township received a $1.1 million reduction, lowering its total assessment to $2.8 million. That value covers five properties totaling 260.75 acres, records show.
Fairchild Semiconductor in the Crestwood Industrial Park in Wright Township received the highest assessment reduction — $8.7 million — resulting in a new assessment of $12.75 million. The property was bumped off the top-10 highest valued properties as a result.
Refunds also were paid on:
• The Mizu Sushi and Hibachi property on Highland Park Boulevard in Wilkes-Barre Township, owned by Veronella Development Co. LLC, reduced from $1.35 million to $1.1 million.
• A 30.89-acre tract off North Main Street in Jenkins Township owned by the Joseph M. Lombardo Trust, reduced from $300,000 to $195,000.
Attorney’s view
Local attorney Francis Hoegen represented all five property owners and said the reductions were based heavily on appraisals of their worth.
The reductions were obtained through court-level mediation — a negotiation between county assistant solicitor David Schwager and property owners.
Property owners get to mediation when they contest values set by the county assessment appeals board.
In the Amazon case, Schwager noted the new $30 million assessment is significantly higher than property owner’s expert appraisal, which said the property was worth $23 million.
Hoegen said the $40.7 million purchase of the Amazon property late last year can’t be fairly used as a gauge of the property’s value because it was a “portfolio sale.”
In such sales, investment companies pay a bulk price for multiple properties and then allocate amounts toward each when the deeds are recorded, without extensive focus on correlating those amounts to the market values of individual parcels, he said.
“It’s a guesstimate that does not mean that much,” Hoegen said.
The New York City-based KBSII I-81 Industrial Portfolio Trust said its sale of the Amazon property in November was part of a $105.7 million acquisition by Princeton, New Jersey-based Chamber Street Properties that included three other major industrial sites in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
KBSII I-81 had purchased the Amazon property and three others for a combined $90 million from entities tied to developer Robert K. Mericle in 2011, records show.
The new owner of Amazon is RT Oak Ridge Road LLC, which operates through Chamber Street Properties, records show.
Both Schwager and property owners must sign off on mediation settlements.
“He negotiates a tough deal,” Hoegen said of Schwager. “I never get my number.”
Schwager pointed to the appraisal of Fairchild Semiconductor as another example where aggressive negotiation was needed. The property owner had presented an appraisal valuing the plant on 38.29 acres at $8.6 million, or $4.15 million less than the settled amount.
Taxes returned
Fairchild Semiconductor received the highest refund from the county: $45,562 for 2013 and $49,206 for 2014, records show.
Refunds roll back to the year an appeal was filed.
The Wyoming Valley Country Club received $29,286 in refunds on taxes that had been paid on all five properties dating back to 2010, records show.
The other refunds: Amazon, $11,261 for 2014; Veronella, $6,570 dating back to 2010; and Lombardo Trust, $2,223 retroactive to 2011.
It’s unclear how the county is paying for the latest round of refunds because the $1.25 million budgeted for refunds was depleted in July.
The account now shows a balance of more than $1 million, but details about the source of the transferred funds has not yet been posted online.
County Budget/Finance Division Head Brian Swetz could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.