Mediation reductions add up to $17.5 million

Lori Macarelli is the biggest residential property winner at assessment mediation to date, receiving a whopping $392,100 reduction on her Harveys Lake cottage.

Macarelli went public in January with complaints about the Luzerne County assessment appeal board’s refusal to lower her $477,100 assessment.

She had purchased the two-bedroom, 952-square-foot home for $44,900 in 2006 and obtained a fresh appraisal that concluded the property was worth $85,000 on Jan. 1, 2008, the focus date of the county reassessment.

Macarelli had noted that her property doesn’t include lake access, and she must climb about 50 steps to reach her home because of the steep grade.

She said she mailed her appraisal to county solicitor David Schwager as part of mediation, and he agreed over the phone to reduce the property to $85,000 without making her attend a negotiating session.

The 1945 wood home was reduced from $81,000 to $50,000, and the underlying 0.31 acre on Lakeside Drive went from $396,000 to $35,000.

“It was pretty incredible. It’s over, and I’m thrilled to death,” Macarelli said. “It was a rough four months, and this is a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”

Another 320 property owners have reached mediation settlements to date, according to the county prothonotary’s office, where settlements are filed.

The latest two batches of 38 settlements since March 31 have resulted in the removal of $2.85 million in assessment from values, bringing total reductions to $17.5 million since mediation got under way in December.

About 2,000 property owners paid a $111.75 fee to get to mediation. Schwager and property owners must both sign off on settlements, and Schwager has stressed that he consults with the assessor’s office on all proposed reductions.

• A 5,000-square-foot brick, two-story on 1 acre along Fairway Drive in Exeter was originally valued at $825,800 by reassessment company 21st Century Appraisals Inc. The assessment was reduced to $615,900 at a formal appeal and knocked down to $425,000 at mediation.

• A 3,400-square-foot, 1900s home on 1 acre along Lakeside Drive in Harveys Lake was first valued at $1.04 million. It was reduced to $806,400 at a formal appeal, and mediation resulted in a new value of $670,000.

• A 4,850-square-foot, brick two-story on 2.24 acres along Walnutwood Drive in Lehman Township was initially valued at $1.18 million by 21st Century. An appeals board lowered it to $865,800, and mediation resulted in a new value of $670,000.