WPCA Settles For Smaller Benefit Assessments

In an interesting twist to the usually inflexible WPCA, I have been told by a third party that settlements were recently reached on two of the seven benefit assessment appeal lawsuits. According to my source, the two commercial lawsuits brought by the Marlborough Barn and NRBZ properties were settled for a vastly reduced difference of $130,000 than originally assessed.

Marlborough Barn was originally assessed at $390,549.60. The WPCA agreed to settle their lawsuit for a drastically reduced $300,000.00. NRBZ properties was originally assessed at $90,405.00. The WPCA agreed to settle for less than half that amount at $40,000.00.

Combined, these settlements reflect over $130,000.00 in over assessments by the WPCA. One wonders how much less these assessments would have been if the commercial properties had pushed their cases to trial. One may also wonder just how grossly inaccurate are the assessments levied on other businesses in town, if these two businesses alone were able to recoup $130,000? It’s unfortunate that more property owners in town did not stand up for themselves and appeal their assessments.

With respect to the remaining five residential property lawsuits, the WPCA has not offered or been receptive to settlement offers. I have been told by a third party, that they have been under the false assumption that all five cases would be heard independently, possibly believing that the plaintiffs lacked sufficient determination to fight five separate trials. The WPCA is misinformed, and all five cases have been re-consolidated. There will not be five separate trials (sorry to burst your bubble, boys.)

Also, to date, the WPCA has failed to provide their property appraiser’s reports to the plaintiffs, leading one to believe that such reports do not presently, nor have they ever, existed. I find it interesting that the WPCA was able to determine that all the residential properties in the lawsuit equally benefited by a fair market value increase of $12,000, without conducting any appraisal at the time the assessments were levied. In fact, even more interesting is that their own appraiser has yet to justify that amount, and provided a lower number of $8,000 (to which the WPCA is now bound, in my opinion) at a pre-trial conference last October.

How the WPCA expects to go to trial and collect $12,000 in assessments from four of the five plaintiffs, when the WPCA’s appraiser has admitted the benefit to four of the five properties is only $8,000 is beyond me. But, nothing the WPCA has done has made much sense to me. Why would that change now?

Advertisement