Deer Lakes to refund more than $700K to 3 Pittsburgh Mills properties after reassessments

Deer Lakes School District and Frazer Township are facing some hefty unforeseen expenses after a recent reassessment of three Pittsburgh Mills commercial properties.

The school district will refund a total of more than $700,000 to the owners of Walmart, Sam’s Club and the SpringHill Suites hotel in Frazer.

The district will pay just over $345,700 from reassessment appeals to Sam’s Real Estate Business Trust, the property owners of the Sam’s Club in Frazer. The total spans a five-year period, including $64,480 from 2019, $63,280 from 2020, $58,660 from 2021, $82,374 from 2022 and $76,966 from 2023.

Deer Lakes also will refund Walmart about $333,400 from reassessments over the five-year period. The breakdown is $53,640 from 2019, $62,640 from 2020, $49,288 from 2021, $87,376 from 2022 and $80,440 from 2023.

Just over $46,200 each will be refunded by the district to Vista Myrtle Beach Hotel, current owners of the property at SpringHill Suites for the 2023 tax year, and former property owners Frazer Mills Hospitality from the 2022 tax year.

“Allegheny County’s reassessment office reassessed the listed properties for the indicated tax years, so the district is required to pay these amounts back to the property owners for the given years,” said Shawn Annarelli, district spokesman. “That new assessed value is then used in all future tax years until another reassessment is filed.”

Annarelli said the refunds impact the district because it must pay back revenues received in prior tax years, which affects the district’s current finances. It also impacts Deer Lakes’ real estate revenue for future years.

“The district does not set aside funds in the budget for refunds of property reassessments, as there is no way to predict who files a reassessment appeal in advance or if an assessed value will be changed by (the Board of Property Assessment Appeal and Review),” Annarelli said.

Frazer refunded Sam’s $35,760 and Walmart $35,072 — both were totals over that five-year period — said Secretary/Treasurer Lori Ziencik. The township refunded $7,137 to Vista and $5,097 to Mills Hospitality.

The difference between the school district and municipality refunds are because of their millage rates: Deer Lakes’ current millage is 22.69, although it is eyeing an increase to 24.25 in its proposed budget, and Frazer’s millage is 3.5.

The refunds impact Frazer’s coffers, too. Despite knowing that the reassessments are coming, it’s hard to gauge what the final numbers will be, Ziencik said.

“We know something is coming, but we don’t know the amount of the reduction until it happens,” Ziencik said.

Property reassessments can take a toll on the taxing bodies. Ziencik referred to the recent lawsuit filed by Pittsburgh Public Schools to spur a countywide property reassessment.

“They’re all getting this assessment reduction, and it’s affecting their revenues,” she said.

“It’s not happening just in the city, it’s happening even in the county. It’s not just Frazer.”