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Luzerne County addressing parkade tower work and wrapping up courthouse restoration

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<p>Big-ticket property assessment refunds have forced Luzerne County&#8217;s administration to make a budget transfer to cover bills, records show.</p><p>The administration had requested $500,000 for refunds this year, but council ended up reducing the allotment to $450,000 through amendments.</p><p>The recent transfer added $40,000 for refunds by reducing other earmarks in the budget/finance division. Transfer paperwork said the infusion was needed because the county has received court orders to pay more than $62,000 in refunds for July and August.</p><p>A current tally of spending on refunds was not immediately available. The latest budget report shows the county spent nearly $401,000 through Aug. 31, but it&#8217;s unclear if this includes payment of the $62,000 in refunds noted in the transfer.</p><p>The county has not publicly posted a report on the paid refunds since May, although the administration said there were none in June.</p><p>County Manager C. David Pedri advised council in May that a transfer likely would be needed, in part due to an assessment reduction for the Laurel Mall in Hazle and Sugarloaf townships requiring the county to pay back more than $140,000 in taxes from 2015 through 2018.</p><p>Refunds for assessment reductions date back to the year challenges were filed, which has resulted in multiple-year surprises.</p><p>To address this financial liability, the administration worked with the court to issue inactivity notices in 2017 to numerous parties that had filed assessment challenges but failed to actively pursue their pending cases. As a result, older challenges of larger commercial property owners who opted to proceed are now advancing quickly through the court system and leading to refunds, Pedri has said.</p><p>According to a review of court records, one of the new refunds from July is for the Valley Country Club in Sugarloaf Township.</p><p>The assessment of the 122.54-acre golf course and country club owned by Allentown-based Valley CC LLC was lowered from $2.682 million to $1.695, or a reduction of $987,000. The reduction dates back to 2015 and equates to a loss of around $6,000 in county taxes annually.</p><p>Another court settlement that has not yet been posted on the county website as processed is for a commercial warehouse on Hanover Street in Hanover Township owned by Garden City, New York-based Harvey Associates III LLC, records show.</p><p>A court settlement says the assessment of the 11.5-acre property was lowered from $4.5 million to $3.39 million, a reduction of $1.11 million. This appeal dates back to 2016, it said.</p><p>A two-story commercial building on 0.21 acre at 21 Church St. in Hazleton also received a $74,000 assessment reduction, for a new total value of $325,000 dating back to 2011, another court order said. This property is owned by New York City-based 21 North Church Street LLC.</p><p>The Valley Country Club isn&#8217;t the only golf course to receive a recent reduction. Earlier this year, the assessment of the 488-acre Huntsville Golf Club in Lehman Township was lowered from $6.06 million to $3.75 million, resulting in a total county tax refund of $40,125 from 2016 through 2018.</p><p>In addition to county refunds, the applicable school district and municipality must return overpaid real estate taxes when reductions are granted.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_luzcocourthouse01-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Courthouse </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_luzcocourthouse01-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Courthouse </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Big-ticket assessment refunds impacting Luzerne County budget