Greater Latrobe School Board is considering a settlement that would reduce the property tax assessment for Unity Plaza.

The settlement would cut the proposed tax assessment for the retail center by 28%, from $600,000 to $432,000, for 2020 and 2021. The plaza, located at routes 30 and 981 in Unity, is owned by First Latrobe Company. It is anchored by a Big Lots store.

The school board is expected to vote on the settlement at its Feb. 16 meeting. Approval also is required by Westmoreland County officials and township supervisors.

Greater Latrobe solicitor Ned Nakles said the settlement represents a figure that had been set by the county’s tax assessment appeals board before objections were filed on both sides.

“The taxpayer appealed that number and we also appealed above that number,” Nakles said.

The assessment is calculated by applying the state tax equalization ratio for the county to the proposed market values for the property of $3 million for 2020 and just under $3.3 million for 2021.

According to court documents in the case, the settlement was negotiated after the property owner and the taxing bodies reviewed factors including “the property record cards, the structures on the premises, the economic climate, the physical condition of the premises, the rents and expenses.”

If the settlement is approved, the parties would agree that it is “just and equitable,” properly reflects market value and will allow them to avoid the cost of litigation and uncertainty about the local tax base.

First Latrobe Company would receive a refund of any tax overpayment within 90 days of a final court order enacting the settlement.

According to Greater Latrobe business administrator Dan Watson, the district won’t owe the company any reimbursement for 2020-21 because the school tax on the property for that year was calculated using the $432,000 figure originally approved by the county appeals board.

That decreased assessment cost the district $14,112 for that budget year, Watson said. Future impacts will be determined by whatever millage rate the school board approves, he said.

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