Meriden Hotel Partnership, LLC settled a 2 year real property tax assessment appeal resulting in a reduction in value of over $4,500,000 or 40% of the figure original determined by the City of Meriden tax assessor. Wayne D'Amico, CCIM was retained by MHP to validate the original revaluation assessment only 4 months after their purchasing of the property.
After reviewing the extensive details of the hotel's operating history, market reports, transactional details and an Assessment Equity Analysis of like kind hotel properties, D'Amico recommended moving ahead with the appeal which resulted in litigation that finally reached the CT Superior Court in the Summer of 2008. The negotiations between the City of Meriden and D'Amico along with legal counsel Dennis Ceneviva, Esq. resulted in a court stipulated judgment reducing the $11,565,500 value to $7,000,000.
"Although this does not capture the $6,000,000 value we deemed most appropriate, the compromise was more than satisfactory to my client, " D'Amico recounted. Due to the extended litigation calendar, the settlement resulted in a credit back to MHP for almost $90,000 in overpaid taxes and a reduction of the current tax bill by an additional $90,000. MHP will enjoy the benefits of this reduction for a minimum of 5 years until the next statutory revaluation.
"Having the appropriate valuation going into any future revaluation is an additional benefit of our validation process, " said D'Amico of the long term benefits of an early assessment validation process.
