Burrell School District settles for $400,000 loss in property taxes with Arconic

After Arconic appealed a $653,100 real estate tax levy for property in Upper Burrell last year, the aluminum company and Burrell School District recently settled on a $403,000 tax reduction.

Upper Burrell is also part of the settlement, and it will lose close to $39,000 in tax revenue annually.

“The decrease is detrimental to district finances because it is over 2.5 mills of taxes and will continue to impact district finances year after year,” said Jennifer S. Callahan, business administrator for the school district. One mill of tax revenue generates about $155,000. Burrell’s tax rate for this school year is 100.5 mills.

The district anticipated the tax revenue loss and built it into its current school year budget, Callahan said.

Upper Burrell’s loss of $39,000 is the value of about one mill, according to township officials. Upper Burrell’s tax rate is 10.5 mills.

“It is a big loss that we have to make up somehow,” said Ross Walker, chairman of the Upper Burrell supervisors. “We will have to look at redoing the budget, nipping and tucking the budget, or raising taxes.”

Arconic was paying $653,100 in real estate taxes on its Upper Burrell research facility, situated on 170 acres. The market value was almost $50 million.

Arconic filed a tax appeal with the Westmoreland County Board of Assessment Appeals last December.

The company sought a 74% reduction in the market value from almost $50 million to $13 million after the company had the site appraised, according to Burrell School District’s legal counsel, Anthony Giglio, an attorney with Andrews & Price in Forest Hills.

In the settlement with Burrell, which was finalized this week, Arconic agreed to a 60% reduction in the market value to $20 million, said Tracie Gliozzi, Arconic spokeswoman.

“Arconic worked collaboratively with the taxing authorities, including the school district, for a fair and equitable valuation of our property,” she said.

The real estate tax loss from the Arconic settlement amounts to about 1.2% of Burrell’s $32.7 million budget for 2021-22.