Thursday, August 23, 2018
Hasidic property owners sue Mamakating over ‘discriminatory’ assessments
Property owners in the Chestnut Ridge development are challenging the Town of Mamakating on its property assessments, claiming they are selective, unequal and part of an effort to keep Hasidic Jews out of town.
More than 40 plaintiffs — including developer Shalom Lamm's company, Sullivan Farms II Inc. — filed a tax certiorari suit against Mamakating and its assessor at the end of July.
The lawyer representing the plaintiffs declined to comment on the case.
Mamakating Supervisor Bill Herrmann said the lawsuit isn't unusual.
"People challenge their taxes," Herrmann said. "It's their right. We don't really pay that much attention to it because it's their right to do it. We have to defend it."
As properties in the development were being sold for more than the town's assessed values, he said, the assessments were increased to reflect that.
"We feel the assessor is doing a great job and it's fairly valued," he added.
The plaintiffs own a total of 106 properties in the development, of which 51 have been sold, according to the petition.
They're seeking the cancellation of any tax assessment or charge based on what they consider invalid assessments, the correction of the tax roll, refunds of excess taxes and fees paid, as well as compensatory damages to be proved at trial.
The homes were the beginning of a planned development of 396 townhouses geared toward Hasidic Jewish buyers before Lamm and two of his associates conspired to fraudulently register voters for the March 2014 Bloomingburg village election to further their own interests.
All of the properties in the suit are assessed at $200,800 for the 2018-19 tax year.
The plaintiffs argue the assessment should be reduced to $147,397, and that the town selectively raised the assessments despite no significant improvements, but instead based on market value of sold homes.
From March 2015 and May 2018, homes in Chestnut Ridge sold at a median price of $305,216.
The plaintiffs argue the town has not done this with other properties and that it also used a "discriminatory" methodology.
Such a disparity in the treatment of properties creates multiple classes of property owners and violates the U.S. and state Constitutions, the lawsuit says.
According to the state Department of Taxation and Finance, when assessors update assessments, they should look at all of the parcels in a community and maintain all of the assessments at market value or a uniform percentage each year.
As a result, valuations may remain the same, be adjusted through the use of market trends or be adjusted based on a physical reappraisal.
The lawsuit cites previous litigation as evidence that the reassessment of the Chestnut Ridge properties was in "furtherance of the town's illegal and unconstitutional efforts to prevent development of the project ... and is likewise motivated by religious discrimination."
In 2016, the Village of Bloomingburg and Mamakating agreed to a settlement of $2.9 million with Sullivan Farms II to avoid a trial that accused the municipalities of religious discrimination in attempting to block building projects.
All of the money came from insurance carriers and neither party admitted fault.
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