A decision by Judge E. Loren Williams (Westchester Supreme Court) in Cedar Manor Acquisition LLC v. The Assessor of the Town of Ossining (Index No. 62538/2020; filed 9/28/21) presents the problem in attempting to vary valuation of real property when it recently sold.

In a well written decision, Justice Williams discussed the effort to reduce the taxes on property which was a nursing home business enterprise. The property sold for $23,715,000 which included the purchase price of the real estate and the business enterprise. The transfer tax form filed with the County Clerk indicated that the real estate was apportioned in the amount of $18,800,000. The parties used two well-known appraisers. Both used the capitalization of income approach. Petitioner’s appraiser, Bob Sterling, used multifamily housing rents and Medicaid capital reimbursements to value Cedar Manor, but did not consider the recent purchase price.