Justice John LaCava
A trial took place of a tax certiorari, Real Property Tax Law Article 7 proceeding, challenging the valuation by the Town/Village of Mt. Kisco of the real property owned by Target and designated by them as Store #1954. The sole witness called by Target was its appraiser, who discussed his methodology for valuing the subject. The Town argued that Target’s valuation evidence failed to rebut the presumption of validity of the assessments, in that Target’s appraisal was not based on standard and accepted appraisal techniques thus, did not meet the substantial evidence standard. The court found Target submitted substantial evidence based on “sound theory and objective data” consisting of an appraisal and the testimony of the appraiser. It noted Target’s expert was a recognized appraisal expert who testified before the court on many occasions and whose value conclusions have been accepted by the court. The court further found Target demonstrated the existence of a valid dispute concerning the propriety of the assessments during the tax years at issue. It sustained the petitions and held that the assessment rolls were to be corrected by the assessor utilizing the final Indicated Market Values and the agreed-upon equalization rates.
