Board to settle Meadows tax case for $680K
What is believed to be the single-largest tax refund in the history of Washington County government will be set in motion today as the board of commissioners agrees to settle a property assessment case with The Meadows Racetrack & Casino to the tune of $680,940.
If the commissioners act as expected, the county will have 60 days to refund the track and casino’s overpayment of taxes from 2010 under the terms of the stipulated settlement agreement. The Meadows in 2009 appealed its initial assessment of $19.9 million for the casino, and sought an assessment of $10 million. The owners had been paying taxes at the higher assessed while the tax assessment dispute was litigated.
According to a “statement regarding amicable settlement of tax assessment appeal” that was part of the settlement, “the parties have agreed that, going forward, the assessed value of the property will be approximately $14.2 million, (including the value of The Meadows’ new parking garage and storage building) for tax year 2014 and subsequent years until the next countywide reassessment is completed.”
The county expected The Meadows’ case to be litigated or settled last year, so Roger Metcalfe, finance director, set aside a half-million dollars in the 2012 budget.
“We’re not happy about it, but we will abide by it,” Commission Chairman Larry Maggi said Wednesday.
“It was the school district that had the most to lose or gain from it. The county was not an active participant in that lawsuit. The Meadows has been a good neighbor, a good corporate neighbor. They’ve been very generous to the community’s nonprofit organizations.”
By law, a percentage of the casino’s gambling proceeds must be allocated to various projects through what is known as the Local Share Account. This year, local share projects total $7,324,795 approved by the Department of Community and Economic Development. Two projects added later are still being reviewed, said Edward Jordan, DCED spokesman in Harrisburg.
Ladbroke Racing Pennsylvania, now known as CCR Pennsylvania Racing Inc., reached an agreement with the county, Canon-McMillan School District and North Strabane Township to receive a tax refund totaling $3.9 million for tax years 2010 through 2013. Because the school district, as with any property, has the largest tax bill, it will issue the casino a $581,646 credit annually for five years to refund $2.9 million in overpayments.
The settlement was also a topic of discussion in the North Strabane Township supervisors agenda-setting’s closed session Tuesday night, and township approval will be on the agenda July 23 meeting.
Frank Siffrinn, North Strabane manager, said the township did not participate in the settlement discussions. “Usually the school district takes the lead role on this,” he said. “We were content to sit back and see what developed on the appeal.”
As host community for The Meadows, North Strabane received between $2.2 million to $2.3 million during the years beginning in 2008, the first full year of operation with slot machines. Since the addition of table games, in July 2011, the township has received between $2.6 million and $2.7 million.