Former city-owned golf course wants massive tax cut
Oct. 25—The owners of the former Scranton Municipal Golf Course land want property taxes slashed by more than 80%.
SMGC Realty LP, at least partly owned by brothers Louis and Dominick DeNaples of Dunmore, asked the Lackawanna Board of Assessment Appeals on Wednesday to lower the 176.6-acre former course's assessed value from $340,000 to $57,784, an 83% drop. The land is in Jefferson Twp.
Cutting the assessed value that much would lower the property tax bill from $80,826 to $13,737 a year starting in 2024, according to an appraisal submitted to the board. The county, the township and the North Pocono School District impose the property taxes.
The board did not immediately announce a decision on the value.
Jonathon Barbose, who did the new appraisal, said the land's value decreased sharply because the course closed. The course closed in 2020. The course was allowed as a non-complying use in a low density residential zone, but that allowance expired because the course closed so long ago, Barbose said.
That means it's now comparable to other large tracts of residential land, he said. He came up with the new value based on his review of four comparable properties, including a former Monroe County golf course, he said. Barbose performed the appraisal for Cowley Real Estate Auctions, which is marketing the land for SMGC.
Barbose said he didn't count the value of buildings — a former clubhouse, a barn, a garage, an older home — or overgrown golf cart paths because they, like the golf course, are also unpermitted uses under the township zoning ordinance. In the current assessment, the buildings make up $40,000 of the $340,000 assessed value.
In June, the township supervisors voted against rezoning 534 acres, including SMGC's, from a low-density residential district to a highway commercial district. Rezoning would have allowed a California company to build six warehouses with about 4.17 million square feet of floor space. Residents, fearing traffic and noise, opposed the change.
The city sold the golf course to SMGC in March 2003 for $3.475 million, but the deed recording the sale listed the real estate value at $1.4 million.
County sub-assessor Robert Foley III told the board a 2003 city audit showed the city gained $2.1 million from the sale, more than the deed price. That should have produced a $450,000 assessed value, Foley said. Because of the discrepancy, the valuation should go to county court, he said. He also said the land remains valuable because it's zoned residential.
Barbose said he didn't know the details of the 2003 sale, but in sales of operating businesses, the operating business often enhances the sale price.
"A lot of times the deeded price or was on the deed is just for the real estate," Barbose said.
Attorney Tim Kelly, who represented the township, objected to Barbose's statement, saying the appraiser provided no evidence to support that claim.
Barbose said he wasn't saying specifically why the sale price was higher, but spoke in general terms.
"And I think we can all agree that it was in operation as a public golf course at that time," he said.
Kelly replied inflation alone would have added to the land's value over 20 years, and SMGC decided against operating as a business.
"But if you even look at the 2003 numbers, it's only assessed at 25% of what the value was," he said.
Attorney Tim Polishan, representing Cowley, said the closure matters because zoning forbids using the land as a golf course again. He said Barbose's comparable properties are "right on." The past sale conditions and price aren't pertinent, Polishan said.
"The condition of the property now, the zoning now, and the current highest and best use" matter, he said.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9147; @BorysBlogTT on Twitter.
