Development Co. of America, Inc. v. Board of Revision of Taxes

59 Pa. D. & C.2d 480, 1972 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 298
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County
DecidedOctober 27, 1972
Docketno. 3572; no. 3767
StatusPublished

This text of 59 Pa. D. & C.2d 480 (Development Co. of America, Inc. v. Board of Revision of Taxes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Development Co. of America, Inc. v. Board of Revision of Taxes, 59 Pa. D. & C.2d 480, 1972 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 298 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1972).

Opinion

RIBNER, J.,

After the Board of Revision of Taxes refused to sustain an appeal from the tax assessment for the years 1971 and 1972 on the property located at 11601 Roosevelt Boulevard and owned by Development Company of America, Inc., petitioner, this appeal was taken to the court of common pleas. The property had been assessed for taxation at a valuation of $4,461,400 for each of the years 1971 and 1972.

The property involved is leased from the petitioner by the Internal Revenue Service. The property is on a tract containing 23.8961 acres. The first section of the building on the tract was built in 1963. The net usable square footage of the building at that time was 250,Í43 square feet. In 1970, additions were built, bringing the footage up to 432,589 square feet.

Both petitioner and Board of Revision of Taxes [481]*481found the building to be highly unusual for the Philadelphia area. The Roosevelt Boulevard property is a one-floor office building, which normally would be used for industrial purposes because of the large footage.

A lease between Development Company of America and the United States Government was signed on June 30, 1970, as a result of the new addition constructed on the property. The lease supplemented an earlier lease entered into by the parties for the original structure constructed in 1963. The lease has a 20-year term with two five-year options. The lease is a gross lease, and, as such, the owner is responsible for all maintenance, repairs, taxes and insurance. However, at the end of five-year periods the government might pay additional rent, which would be calculated as the difference between the rental established in the base year and increases in expenses over any five year period. Thus, for example, if taxes were $100,000 in year one, $125,000 in year two, and so forth up to $200,000 in year five, the government would pay an additional $100,000 rental per year starting in the sixth year to cover the increased tax burden. The tax increases paid in years two through five of the lease would be borne by the lessor. The formula for computing the government’s liability for increased operating expenses in year six of the lease is similar to that for taxes, except for the fact that the base year for operating expenses is the average of the first five years rather than year one.

The governing statute as to real estate assessments for counties of the first class reads as follows:

“All property within the county now or hereafter made taxable by law, shall be valued and assessed by the assessors and by the board at the actual value thereof. In determining the actual value of property, [482]*482the price at which the same would separately bona fide sell shall be considered but shall not be controlling”: Act of June 27, 1939, P. L. 1199, sec. 13, 72 PS §5341.13.

The courts, in considering the statute and other statutes governing assessments, have found the term “actual value” to mean “market value”: Park Drive Manor, Inc. Tax Assessment Case, 380 Pa. 134 (1955); Flamingo Apartments, Inc. v. Board of Revision of Taxes, 383 Pa. 223 (1955); Brooks Building Tax Assessment Case, 391 Pa. 94 (1958).

In Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co.’s Assessment, 298 Pa. 294 (1929), the term “market value” was defined at page 300:

“Ordinarily, by ‘fair market value’ is meant the price which a purchaser, willing but not obliged to buy, would pay an owner, willing but not obliged to sell, taking into consideration all uses to which the property is adapted and might in reason be applied . . .”

In Park Drive Manor, Inc. Tax Assessment Case, supra, the court, discusses what factors are relevant in determining market value:

“In determining market value many factors may be relevant, including capitalized rental income, comparable sales, location of the property and condition of the buildings: Metropolitan Edison Co.’s Appeal, 307 Pa. 401, 161 A. 303; Algon Realty Company Tax Assessment Appeal, 329 Pa. 321, 198 A. 49; Chestnut Street Tax Assessment Case, 361 Pa. 231, 64 A. 2d 769. But all the elements considered must be directed to determining the value of the property in the market, a determination which is not controlled by any single factor and which is ultimately made on the basis of competent testimony as to what the property is worth in the market at a fair sale: East Pennsylvania Railroad v. Hiester, 40 Pa. 53; American Academy of Music [483]*483Appeal, 321 Pa. 433, 184 A. 657; Algon Realty Company Tax Assessment Appeal, supra; Chestnut Street Tax Assessment Case, supra; Berkley v. Jeannette, 373 Pa. 376, 96 A. 2d 118.”

In attempting to establish market value, both sides in the case at hand produced expert witnesses. Sidney N. Greenberg, Jr., the witness for petitioner, arrived at a market value for the Roosevelt Boulevard premises by using principally the capitalization of net income approach. Greenberg felt that since the property was encumbered with a 20-year lease, possibly 30 if the options are exercised, that any investor interested in buying the property would analyze the income generated by the property rather than the cost of the building or reproduction cost. Also, Greenberg felt that the comparative value approach would be invalid since he could not find any properties sold that were physically similar to the property in question and that could be used as a basis for comparison.

Greenberg arrived at a fair market value figure of $3,500,000 by applying a 10 percent capitalization rate on an adjusted net income of $350,000. In arriving at the 10 percent capitalization rate, Greenberg considered the prevailing rate of interest on other types of investments, the elements of risk and liquidity and the burdens of management connected with a gross lease.

Greenberg noted that any purchaser of the property would run the burden of increased taxes and operating expenses during each five-year period of the lease. Any additional rent paid by the government after a five-year period, as explained above, could only pay for the difference between the base year and the last year of the period and could not cover the intervening increases. Another factor entering into Greenberg’s consideration of a 10 percent rate would be that real estate [484]*484has historically a high capitalization rate, since real estate is not readily saleable. Even interest rates on FHA guaranteed mortgages were as high as eight percent during the assessment period. Moreover, Greenberg felt that investors would rather have a property where they received rent without having any of the obligations that come with the gross lease on the Roosevelt Boulevard property.

The board’s witness, Louis A. Harrison, viewed the property as having a market value of $6,510,000. Rather than relying solely on the capitalization approach, Harrison took into consideration, when evaluating the property, “. . . the building itself, its location, its construction, occupancy, tenancy, and all the factors which go to make up the value of a piece of real estate.”

Harrison stated that he also took into consideration the lease when determining market value, however, only to a limited extent.

“Q. Would you explain to the Court how you obtained the lease and to what extent.
“A. In my mind, this is a lease that was made by a man who wasn’t fully conscious of what he was doing. This property rented for around $3.80 a square foot.

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Related

Berkley v. Jeannette
96 A.2d 118 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1953)
Flamingo Apartments, Inc. v. Board of Revision of Taxes
118 A.2d 197 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1955)
Brooks Building Tax Assessment Case
137 A.2d 273 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1958)
Wynne, Inc. Tax Assessment Case
253 A.2d 632 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1969)
Algon Realty Company Tax Assessment Appeal
198 A. 49 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1938)
American Academy of Music Appeal
184 A. 657 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1936)
Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co.'s Assessment
148 A. 301 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1929)
Park's Appeal
5 A.2d 561 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1939)
Metropolitan Edison Co.'s Appeal
161 A. 303 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1932)
Chestnut Street Tax Assessment Case
64 A.2d 769 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1949)
East Pennsylvania Railroad v. Hiester
40 Pa. 53 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1861)
Park Drive Manor, Inc. Tax Assessment Case
110 A.2d 392 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1955)
Pennsylvania's Northern Lights Shoppers City, Inc. Appeal
213 A.2d 268 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1965)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 Pa. D. & C.2d 480, 1972 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/development-co-of-america-inc-v-board-of-revision-of-taxes-pactcomplphilad-1972.