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Six more court-level, tax assessment challenges were settled last month, forcing Luzerne County to refund $40,645 to property owners, according to the county manager’s tax refund report for August.
Officials have pushed for resolution of outstanding appeals, particularly larger commercial ones that have been lingering for years. Refunds date to the year challenges were filed, leading to some multiyear payments that have strained past county budgets.
The largest assessment reduction in August was for the Exopack plastic manufacturing operation in Hazle Township.
Its assessment was lowered by $967,900, or from a total $5.418 million to $4.45 million.
Greenville, South Carolina-based Exopack LLC, which owns the 18-acre property, received a county tax refund of $5,450 per year for 2014 through 2016, for a total of $16,350.
The county does not detail additional refunds that must be paid by impacted school districts and municipalities.
Settlements must be approved by the county Board of Tax Assessment Appeals, municipalities and school districts, according to court filings.
Also on the August list is a commercial office and warehouse on 0.49 acres at 201 Carey Ave. in Wilkes-Barre, which received an assessment reduction from $401,000 to $100,000.
Brooklyn-based Mowich Vineland Inc. purchased the property and a separate parcel containing a small parking lot for $65,000 in February from Carey Avenue LLC, which had acquired the site through a mortgage foreclosure sheriff sale in 2013, records show.
The building previously housed Master Chemical Products, a janitorial supply company that closed in 2012 after nearly 80 years in business, according to archived reports.
The county paid a $1,695 annual refund for 2014 through 2016, for a total of $5,085.
A summary of the other reductions based on the manager’s report and other county records:
• The assessment of a paper and plastic cup and lid manufacturing facility in Pittston Township owned by Rochester, Michigan-based Letica Corp. was reduced from $6.6 million to $5.75 million for 2016 and 2017. The value will be further reduced to $5.6 million in 2018.
The county paid a $4,786 refund, but only for 2016 because this assessment challenge had been filed in 2015. The Commerce Road facility is on 12 acres.
• A strip mall on 1.4 acres on the Sans Souci Parkway in Hanover Township will be assessed at $995,000, a reduction of $354,100.
Brooklyn-based Crossroads Shopping Center LLC, the property owner, received a $1,810 county tax refund for 2011.
Additional refunds for 2012 through 2016 were processed separately through the county tax claim office due to a past issue with delinquent taxes on the property, county representatives said. No back taxes are currently owed, records show.
• The assessment of a shopping center on 8.57 acres on West Broad Street in Hazleton was reduced from $5.1 million to $4.5 million.
Property owner M J Realty Associates LLC, of Westwood, New Jersey, received a $3,378 county tax refund for both 2015 and 2016, for a total of $6,756.
• An apartment building at 89 Carey Ave., Wilkes-Barre, received an assessment reduction from $346,300 to $265,000.
Brooklyn-based ABAWI Property Management LLC bought the property on 0.6 acres for $250,000 from Patricia Kolesar in April.
The county paid a $458 refund for 2016.
• A larger residential property reduction also was settled in August.
The assessed value of a house on 2.63 acres in Jenkins Township owned by Joseph and Joann Coccia was lowered from $1.47 million to $990,000.
The county paid a $2,700 refund for both 2015 and 2016, for a total of $5,400.
With the latest round of reductions, refunds have cost the county approximately $247,732 through August, or 45 percent of the $550,000 budgeted for 2017, records show.
The county spent about $450,000 on refunds last year.