Burrell schools fight Arconic assessment appeal that would result in $500K hit

Burrell School District and Upper Burrell plan to fight a real estate assessment appeal filed in a Westmoreland County court by Arconic Inc. that could reduce tax revenue to the school district by almost $500,000 annually.

“We plan to fight this vigorously,” said Anthony Giglio, an attorney with Andrews & Price in Forest Hills, legal counsel for Burrell.

If Arconic wins its appeal in the Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas, its tax bill to the school district could decrease by about $482,000.

Arconic currently pays $653,100, but that tax payment would be reduced to $171,150, according to Giglio.

If the court rules in Arconic’s favor, the school district would take a revenue hit that is about 1.5% of its $32.1 million budget. As 1 mill generates about $155,000 for the district, Arconic’s proposed real estate tax decrease would translate roughly to a loss of about 3 mills — which is equal to Burrell’s real estate tax increase this year.

For Upper Burrell, the potential tax decrease would have less impact, in the tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands of dollars, solicitor Steve Yakopec said. Still, the township would take a hit and plans to participate in Burrell’s legal action, Yakopec said.

Arconic’s communications staff said via email: “We are following the required process to obtain a fair property tax assessment because the current assessment is excessive, given the current value of our property.”

Giglio said a court date for Arconic to present its appeal has not been set.

Arconic’s real estate tax appeal is for about 170 acres at its Upper Burrell site, including land and industrial buildings, Giglio said. Arconic is the largest land owner in Upper Burrell, owning close to 1,000 acres, Yakopec said.

Arconic’s current tax assessment for those 170 acres is based on a market value of almost $50 million. However, Arconic commissioned a new appraisal that recalculated the market value of the land to about $13 million, Giglio said.

Arconic filed its petition for appeal of its tax assessment in Westmoreland County court on Dec. 4. The appeal followed a hearing with the Westmoreland County Board of Assessment Appeals in October. Arconic submitted its new appraisal but the board did not change Arconic’s land value or assessment, Giglio said.

“At this point, we haven’t had a chance for discovery and to obtain more information about the property and conduct our own appraisal,” Giglio said.