A New York trial court properly found there was enough evidence to show a Long Island property with 96 cottages was overassessed and it was correct to lower the assessment, a state appeals court found.
The Appellate Division court found Wednesday that Suffolk County Supreme Court correctly found Sound Shore Guild Association Inc. provided enough evidence to rebut the validity of an assessment made by the Riverhead town assessor. Representatives for Sound Shore showed by a preponderance of the evidence the property was overvalued, contrary to the assessor’s contention, and supported their valuation by facts, figures and calculations, the appeals court said.
The 14.38-acre seasonal summer residential community at the center of the dispute contains 96 unheated, uninsulated cottages that can be used only from April 15 through Oct. 15 each year, according to the decision. The town assessed the property as a single parcel. The trial court granted a petition to reduce the tax assessments for the tax years 2009-2010 through 2016-2017, directing that the assessment rolls be corrected and any overpayment be refunded, according to the decision.
The case is In the Matter of Sound Shore Guild Assn. Inc., v. Assessor of the Town of Riverhead, case numbers 2018-07789 and 2018-07791, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department.
Posted by Law360
