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Montour schools to settle tax dispute with Mall at Robinson
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Montour school directors voted 9-0 tonight to move forward with settling a tax assessment dispute with The Mall at Robinson.
Superintendent Donald Boyer said mall owner Forest City Enterprises has proposed increasing the mall's assessed value from about $76 million to $108 million, starting this year and ending when certain publicly financed bonds are paid off.
Also, the mall agreed to retroactively increase its assessment from $93.5 million to $100 million for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012, Mr. Boyer said.
Under a tax financing agreement, Montour, Robinson and Allegheny County have been diverting portions of their tax revenue toward paying off bonds that had funded development of the mall, which opened in 2001. The school district pays the most toward the bonds -- about $1.6 million a year.
Mr. Boyer said the bonds could be paid off by November 2015, freeing up money to help fund construction of the district's planned building for pre-Kindergarten through fourth grade.
"It's in our best interest to approve this settlement," he said.
First Published January 24, 2013 8:58 pm
