by peter e. bortner
A Schuylkill County judge reduced the fair market and assessed values of three properties owned by a Lehigh County partnership.
In three separate opinions filed on Wednesday, Judge John E. Domalakes cut the values of two properties in Ashland and one in Frackville that are owned by Apartments & Acquisitions LP, Allentown.
Domalakes ruled that 1407 Walnut St., Ashland, is worth $4,000, not the $19,410 claimed by the county; that 1035 Brock St., Ashland, is worth $1,000 instead of the county's figure of $3,250; and that 27 N. Nice St., Frackville, is worth $28,000 instead of the county's figure of $47,970.
The decisions mean lower real estate tax bills for Apartments & Acquisitions and lower tax receipts for the county, boroughs and North Schuylkill School District.
In each case, Domalakes accepted as true the expert opinion of Frank Gownley, Pottsville, a licensed real estate appraiser, and ruled that it overcame the legal presumption of the validity of the county's tax assessment records. Gownley was the only witness to testify in each case.
Gownley testified that the building at 1407 Walnut St. is more than 100 years old, vacant and needs repairs, that 1035 Brock St. is a vacant lot that does not comply with the borough zoning standards and that 27 N. Nice St. has an occupied first floor but a gutted second floor that has no kitchen or bathroom and has been damaged by rain, according to Domalakes.
Gownley said in each case that he used sales of comparable properties to determine the value, and Domalakes found nothing wrong with that method.
"(Apartments & Acquisitions) has overcome the presumption of validity of the County's tax determination in that it has produced credible evidence" of the property's fair market value, Domalakes wrote in each opinion.
