Mediation cuts tax base by $47.8M

Luzerne County property assessment mediation settlements are coming in fast and furious, with 680 settled since December.

A striking $47.8 million in assessment has been knocked off through these settlements to date, according to a Times Leader review of each settlement order.

Mediation is the court-level process to challenge county assessment appeal board rulings stemming from last year’s reassessment.

Both the property owner and county assessment Solicitor David Schwager must sign off on settlements, though Schwager has said that he obtains clearance from assessor’s office evaluators before agreeing to a reduction.

Kingston Township property owner John Ferdinand was among the most recent property owners to reach a settlement at mediation. Ferdinand said the settlement was hammered out during a four-minute telephone conversation with Schwager.

Ferdinand said Schwager initially wanted a higher value but then accepted the appraised value of $360,000 “on the nose.”

“I think at this point we’re satisfied. They’ve reduced the value almost a third,” Ferdinand said.

The reassessment company, 21st Century Appraisals Inc., originally valued the 3,000-square-foot home on 0.62 acre at $536,400. The value was lowered to $455,400 at an informal review and $397,900 at a formal appeal.

The couple spent around $1,000 on an attorney, appraisal and filing fees in addition to their own research time, he said. Ferdinand said he’s still baffled by the original value.

The first non-settlement at mediation has been recorded, which means that case will be heard by a county judge.

Harveys Lake property owners Peter and Karen Kaminski could not reach a settlement on a 0.03-acre sliver of vacant lakefront land, according to the Aug. 4 non-settlement report. The reassessment company valued the parcel at $65,200, and the appeal board upheld that ruling.

Kaminski said he has a certified appraisal valuing the parcel at $13,000, a fifth of what the county appraised it. The county initially offered to reduce the value to $30,000 and then went down to $25,000, Kaminski said.

He said the offer is unreasonable because it’s still almost double the appraisal. He said the parcel is an old right-of-way that isn’t large enough to support a dock.

“They wouldn’t budge so I said I’ll go to the next level. It’s a matter of principle,” Kaminski said.

Deputy Court Administrator Peter J. Adonizio, who oversees mediation scheduling for the courts, said no other property owners have been unable to reach a settlement to date.

Roughly 1,300 more reassessment-related mediations remain, and Adonizio estimated it will take at least half a year to process them.

Property owners must pay taxes based on the contested value as they wait. Taxing bodies will then refund overpayments to those who receive mediation reductions, said county Assessment Director Tony Alu.

Alu said the refunds will be triggered by settlement orders, so impacted property owners don’t have to take any steps to recoup overpayments.

The largest dollar mediation reduction granted in recent weeks was $1.4 million to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for the Sam’s Club store in Wilkes-Barre Township.

This means the store will be valued at $8.5 million, compared to the $9.9 million granted by the county assessment appeal board. The property was originally valued at $12.56 million by 21st Century. The reduction will save the chain $29,194 in real estate taxes.

A property that made the county’s original list of the top ten highest residential values has also been reduced at mediation in recent weeks.

The Harveys Lake property of Robert and Rebecca Aben was originally valued at $2.6 million and lowered to $2.25 million at a formal appeal. A recent mediation settlement order says the Lakeside Drive property is now valued at $1.7 million.