Wilkes-Barre City Council to vote on lower tax assessment for Boscov's

Jerry Lynott, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·1 min read

Sep. 8—WILKES-BARRE — City Council will vote this afternoon on a settlement lowering the tax assessment by approximately $154,000 for six downtown parcels owned by Boscov's Department Store LLC.

The settlement recommended by City Assessor John Anstett reduces the assessment to $266,800 from $420,970 and will be taken up by Council, sitting as the Board of Revision of Taxes and Appeals, in a public meeting at 5:45 p.m. at City Hall. Council will hold its regularly scheduled monthly meeting afterward.

The recommendation did not contain the corresponding reduction in real estate property tax. Wilkes-Barre is the only municipality in Luzerne County that has its own tax assessments. The other 75 municipalities use the county's assessments.

The case stems from Boscov's appeal of its 2021 tax assessment of its store on South Main Street and parking garage on South Franklin Street, which was denied by the Board in December 2020. By letter, Anstett notified Reading-based Boscov's the Board determined the assessment was "fair and uniform."

Following the denial, Boscov's turned to the county court to reverse the Board's decision, alleging the city's assessment was, among other things, "substantially higher than assessments of comparable properties in the taxing district."

The case has been pending in court as both parties were to provide updates at court-ordered status conferences scheduled throughout this year. Prior to its public meeting on Aug. 11, Council met behind closed doors in executive session to discuss the appeal. The next status conference was to be held by phone on Sept. 20.

Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.