Chautauqua Mall again asks for lower tax Assessment
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The new owner of the Chautauqua Mall is asking for another decrease in the property's taxable assessment.
Chautauqua Mall Realty Holding LLC has filed an Article 7 review of the mall's assessed value in state Supreme Court in Mayville.
This week's filing comes after the town of Busti, village of Lakewood, Chautauqua County and the Southwestern Central School District had to reimburse the mall a percentage of taxes paid in 2020, 2021 and 2022 after the mall's taxable assessment was decreased late in 2022.
Court records show that in 2020 the mall's assessment was $9,260,000, and that amount was reduced to $5,772,000.
In 2021 the assessment was $9,260,000, and it was reduced to $5,592,000, and in 2022 the assessment was $9,260,000, and it has been reduced to $4,965,000.
The 2023 tax assessment from the Busti tax assessor is $6 million -- an amount mall officials say is too high. It is worth noting the building was sold for $6 million in September 2022.
"Petitioner is aggrieved and will be injured by the unequal, excessive and unlawful (illegal) assessment because Petitioner will be compelled to pay a larger portion of taxes than is its fair and proportionate share, and which it would not be required by law to pay if its assessment had been made correctly and properly," wrote Kevin R. MacLoud of Speno MacLeod PLLC in Baldwinsville, the attorney representing Chautauqua Mall Realty Holding LLC.
Tax assessment challenges aren't new for Chautauqua Mall, but this is the first assessment challenge since the mall's sale from the Washington Prime Group to Chautauqua Mall Realty Holding LLC, a company owned by Michael Kohan of the Kohan Retail Investment Group.
The mall isn't alone in asking for a lower tax assessment.
Walgreens is asking for a lower assessment of its 10 Prospect St., Jamestown, store from $2,425,000 to $727,500. Attorneys from Forchelli, Deegan Terrana LLP in Uniondale argue in their court filing this week that the city's assessment of the Walgreens property using similar boilerplate language as Chautauqua Mall Realty Holding LLC.
In late June, Walgreens Boots Alliance announced a year-to-date operating losses of $6.4 billion, compared to operating income of $2.2 billion in the first nine months of 2022.
The operating losses include a $6.8 billion pre-tax charge for opioid-related claims and litigation. Adjusted operating income was $3.2 billion, a decrease of 26.6% on a constant currency basis, reflecting a COVID-19 headwind of 22%, planned payroll investments in U.S. retail pharmacy and growth investments in U.S. health care.
Target, which plans to open its first Chautauqua County location in August in the former KMart store in West Ellicott, will appear before Justice Grace Hanlon in state Supreme Court in Mayville on July 20 in its 2022 tax assessment challenge.
The building was assessed for $3.4 million, while Target Corporation wants to see the assessment decreased to $1.7 million. Target purchased the building for $3.15 million in October 2021 and, according to a court filing in the assessment case, is expected to have spent $4.5 million on building improvements before the store opens. No new legal documents have been filed in the case since September 2022.