The Neshaminy School District has come to an agreement with Simon Property Group to provide a property tax reassessment settlement.
The settlement was begrudgingly approved 7-0 by the school board on Tuesday evening.
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John Torrente, the solicitor for the district, said the district will have to pay Simon Property Group just under $800,000 – half by July 2020 and the other half by July 2021 – to refund them after the property for the main mall, its anchor stores, and One Oxford Valley office building were reassessed. He added that Simon Property Group-owned Lincoln Plaza and some surrounding lots were not included in the reassessment.
Simon Property Group filed property tax appeals for 2017, 2018, and 2019. The assessment for the mall, the anchor stores, and One Oxford Valley went from $395 million to $304 million.
Going forward, the reassessment will mean $792,218 less tax revenue every year for the Neshaminy School District.
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The district currently is in the process of finalizing their 2019-2020 budget that will be voted on in June.
Board Vice President Stephen Pirritano said the reassessment will be an overall hit on the budget that administrators will have to plan for moving forward.
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“Believe me, no one on this board wanted to vote for it but we had to,” he said.
In the past, school board members have raised concern about tax appeals that could impact the district for other commercial properties. Torrente pointed out during Tuesday’s meeting that St. Mary Medical Center, Middletown’s largest employer, only pays property tax on about 5 percent of its land in Middletown due to its tax status.
