43 A.2d 557 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1945
Argued April 11, 1945. This is an appeal from the county assessment of land *263 in the Borough of Union City for the year 1942. The premises involved are described in the opinion of the lower court as "a chair factory consisting of a three-story steel and concrete building 400 feet x 83 feet, a one-story machine shop 406 feet x 50 feet, a two-story brick office building 72 feet x 24 feet, a dry kiln 45 feet x 108 feet, an old saw mill and barn, and some lumber sheds, all located on a piece of land of considerable size but of no great value". The lower court sustained an assessment for county tax purposes of $67,420.
At first view, the extent of the improvements on the land appear to justify the assessment. But other considerations are factors which require a reduction. County assessments for the year were on the basis of 65% of actual value. Projected on this basis the assessment is the equivalent of a determination of actual value (i.e., market value, Pennsylvania Stave Company'sAppeal,
We think $40,000 is the limit of value for assessment purposes in the present appeal, and that the assessment should be reduced accordingly. The fact that assessments of the other three chair factories in the borough may be comparable with the amount fixed by the assessor in this case, is not controlling on the principle of uniformity. An assessment above fair value of one type of property cannot be sustained merely because other properties of the same kind are also over-assessed. The principle of uniformity requires equalization of assessments with "similar property"(Allentown's Appeals,
Order modified by a reduction in the assessment to $40,000.