County hears assessment appeal from new Susque View owners; decision pending

LOCK HAVEN, PA – The new owners of the Susque View Home on Cree Drive in Lock Haven don’t believe they owe 2023 real estate taxes on the property, claiming 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 better than a $173,000 real estate tax bill for 2023, now due the three taxing authorities, the county, the City of Lock Haven and the Keystone Central School District.

A hearing was held Friday at the county’s Piper Building on the assessment challenge filed by the county home’s new owner, SV Propco LLC of Lakewood, NJ. 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.

The assessment board made no decision on the request following the 30-minute hearing, O’Brien appearing by Zoom. The commissioners said a decision will follow after consultation with solicitor Larry Coploff.

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).

Yearick said his office provided all necessary information to the new owners and told The Record that his office “was proceeding (in a manner) instructed by office solicitors over the years.” Harding supported the chief assessor that the new owner was billed and all necessary paperwork was sent out, denying the attorney’s claim the county was in error.

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 assessment board has 30 days in which to make a decision on the appeal request.