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Attorney: tax-assessment settlement may cost Lake Placid schools about $175,000
Summary
Attorney Kissel told the Lake Placid Central School District board that a recent settlement of a long-running tax-assessment case involving Elderwood will require refunds across jurisdictions totaling about $325,000, with the districtestimated to cover roughly $175,000 for 2017 through 2024 and an additional ~$25,900 for 2025.
Attorney Kissel told the Lake Placid Central School District Board of Education on the meeting's public agenda that a tax-assessment dispute dating to 2017 was recently settled by the assessing unit, creating refund exposure for the district.
"For the years 2017 through 2024, the town reached an agreement with the property owner, resulting in tax refunds due to the property owner of $325,000," Kissel said, adding that "the school being the largest portion of that has exposure for $175,000." He also said the districtcalculated a refund for 2025 of about $25,900 based on the settlement formula.
Kissel described the dispute as typical of certiorari litigation, in which competing appraisals and different valuation methods (including an "income method" for business properties) can drive settlement negotiations. He said the town chose settlement rather than trial because the case could not be tried for nearly a year, would be expensive to litigate and offered an uncertain result.
A committee member responded emotionally to the potential impact on district resources. "You can't tell me that a company like Elderwood ... needs to do this to now effectively hurt all the kids in the district," the committee member said.
Kissel and other board members said the town has been cooperative and that district administrators will press the town to move faster on other pending cases. No board action was required at the meeting: Kissel said the board must wait to be served with the court stipulation and order, at which point the district will have 60 days to pay and will need to pass a resolution to implement payment.
The board directed administration to monitor pending certiorari cases and to coordinate with town counsel; staff also said district reserves exist that can cover such liabilities in the short term. The board will consider a formal resolution only after receiving the official court documents.
