FedEx Ground tops list of properties up for reassessment

District hopes to reap $3M to $4M more by challenging valuations

Northampton Area School District is moving forward with a host of property tax assessment appeals that it hopes will bring in an additional $3 million to $4 million.

Among the 52 properties is the FedEx Ground hub at 1000 Willowbrook Road in Allen Township. It’s assessed at $16 million, according to data on Northampton County’s website.

Also included are several future warehouse locations in Allen Township: Century Commerce Center, being developed on Nor-Bath Boulevard by Liberty Property Trust; JW Development’s Northampton Business Center at Seemsville and Howertown roads, and two parcels along Willowbrook Road owned by The Rockefeller Group pegged for industrial development.

It’s also appealing the assessment of four parcels totaling 41 acres on Airport Road in East Allen Township being developed by CRG, a real estate arm of Clayco Inc. in St. Louis, as The Cubes at Lehigh Valley-Airport Road.

Those developments include 16 properties with a total assessed value of $16.9 million as of Jan. 1, 2020, according to data on the county website.

The hearings are scheduled to be held before the appeals board at 1 p.m. Sept. 25 at Northampton County Courthouse.

The challenges follow the school board’s decision last month to adopt a policy enabling the district to file tax assessment appeals when it believes an assessment is based on outdated calculations.

Policy 628, passed unanimously July 15, enables the district to appeal tax assessments it believes are “lower than is warranted based upon the property’s fair market value.”

The school board also retained Keystone Realty Advisors LLC as a consultant to help identify parcels for appeal, and Raymond P. Wendolowski, an attorney versed in real estate tax appeals on behalf of school districts, to represent it before the appeals board.

The policy applies solely to properties where the district finds “there is a reasonable expectation of generating at least $10,000 in new real estate tax revenue.”

The district had a deadline of Aug. 1 to file its requests for a formal hearing.

Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik said the $10,000 threshold is key in order to establish equity throughout the district and to ensure everyone contributes their fair share in taxes.

By setting the bar at that level, he said, the vast majority of

taxpayers in the district won’t be affected.

“Ninety percent won’t be affected by this policy,” Kovalchik said.

But in one sense they will — an underassessed property may result in other properties paying more than their fair share in order to fund the educational needs of the district, he said.

If successful, Kovalchik said, the appeals could net the district “anywhere from $3-4 million” in additional revenue.

The list of properties isn’t limited to industrial — it also includes Turkey Hill and Redner’s Markets locations, along with others in private ownership.

“We’re looking at properties across the district,” Kovalchik said.

Kovalchik said the district relies heavily on residential property to fund schools, and that only a minimal number of properties meet the $10,000 threshold.

Residential properties represent $52 million in assessed value throughout the district, he said, with commercial properties representing $8.4 million.

Northampton Area increased its tax rate in June by 1.06 mills for 2019-20, taking the district from a millage rate of 53.83 to 54.89, a 1.97% increase.

Based on that rate, the district is in line to collect $59.7 million in real estate taxes after $1.4 million in homestead exemptions are excluded from the overall tax revenue of $61.2 million.