Tax settlement with nursing home approved

City aldermen agreed to cut the 2019 and 2020 property tax assessments for a nursing home.

KINGSTON, N.Y. » City aldermen have agreed to reduce the 2019 and 2020 property tax assessments for a Wilbur Avenue nursing home by $949,000 each of those years.

During a virtual meeting on Tuesday, July 14, the Common Council unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing a settlement of a tax certiorari proceeding brought against the city by McNaughton & DePoala LLC, owners of Mountain Valley Manor on Wilbur Avenue. Under the settlement, the 2019 and 2020 assessments for the property located at 397 Wilbur Ave. would be reduced from $3,399,000 to $2,450,000. No refund was included in the deal.

Details of the tax certiorari case were not discussed publicly.

Tax certiorari is a legal process in which a property owner can challenge the real estate tax assessment on a property in an attempt to reduce the property’s assessment and real estate taxes.

During Tuesday’s meeting, aldermen also unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing an internal city budget transfer to make $20,000 available to hire consultants to fight future assessment challenges.

Alderman Douglas Koop, D-Ward 2, said the settlement for Mountain Valley Manor was recommended by city Assessor Dan Baker. He said the $20,000 in funding, though, would allow the assessor to negotiate or challenge any future assessment reduction requests.

“It’s to protect the city,” Koop said. “If we don’t protect ourselves, then we can be sitting targets” for anyone who wants to reduce their property assessment.

Late last year, the council adopted a resolution to settle a tax certiorari case brought by Kingston Motel Corp., the owner of the Best Western Plus Kingston Hotel and Conference Center at 503 Washington Ave. Under the settlement, the city was to repay $57,066.49 to Kingston Motel Corp. The money was to come from the city’s 2019 budget and contingency fund.