County commissioners deny assessment appeal from new Susque-View owners
LOCK HAVEN, PA – The Clinton County Commissioners, in their capacity as the county board of assessment appeals, have denied an assessment appeal from the new owners of the former Susque-View Home on Cree Drive in Lock Haven.
County Chief Assessor Keith Yearick told therecord-online on Wednesday that the appeal from SV Propco LLC of Lakewood, NJ was rejected by all three commissioners and information on the denial was sent to the appellants.
The new owners bought Susque-View from the county in December of last year but claim they don’t owe 2023 real estate taxes on the property, alleging Clinton County never gave the new owners proper written notice of the change in the building’s status from tax exempt to taxable. But county officials say everything was done properly when and after the transaction was finalized.
At stake is the new owner’s claim it should not be liable for more than $173,000 in real estate taxes for 2023, due the three taxing authorities, the county, the City of Lock Haven and the Keystone Central School District.
A hearing was held Oct. 6 at the county’s Piper Building on the assessment challenge. Presenting the appeal was attorney Joseph P. O’Brien from KAO Law Associates of Media, PA. Hearing the appeal were the three county commissioners, chairman Miles Kessinger, Jeff Snyder and Angela Harding, along with the county’s chief assessor, Keith Yearick.
Yearick and commissioner Harding challenged O’Brien’s claim that the county erred in its handling of the home’s changeover in classification from tax exempt to taxable status. Yearick said the new owners were notified in a timely manner regarding the changeover and “never objected to it.” He said the fifth ward parcel was changed in status on Jan. 3 of this year, not long after the sale of the former county home was consummated, the sale price $8,190,000 (at which time the transfer tax was paid).
All the commissioners noted that one of the benefits of the sale was to get the property back on the tax rolls.
The face value of the 2023 real estate tax bills totals $173,641.13. Individually, they are, Clinton County, $40,668.28; City of Lock Haven, $41,797.19; Keystone Central School District, $91,175.66.
The new Susque-View owners have the option to appeal the turndown into Clinton County Court.
The 146-bed nursing home and senior living center in Lock Haven’s hill district now carries a new name: Lock Haven Rehabilitation & Senior Living; according to the home’s website, the new owner is Allaire Health Services.
Assessor Yearick said the commissioners also rejected assessment appeals from the owners of the CVS in Lock Haven and Lowes and Millbrook Plaza in Bald Eagle Township.
