ACKERMAN v. CARBON COUNTY, Pa. Cmmw. Ct., Judgment, Law, casemine.com

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Alfred K. Hettinger, Allentown, for Appellants. George W. Westervelt, Jr., Stroudsburg, for Appellees.

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FRIEDMAN, Judge.

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HOWARD ACKERMAN, MICHELLE ACKERMAN, LEE G. AL BECKER, JOHN P. BELLIS, CATHERINE M. BELLIS, JOSEPH C. DANIELS, MELISSA A. DANIELS, PAUL J. FEATHER, JOSEPHINE S. FEATHER, GLENN FREDERICK, MILDRED FREDERICK, ALPHONSUS GREGAITIS, HELEN GREGAITIS, THOMAS S. HABERMAN, DENISE V. SHOEMAKER, DAVID A. KERN, DELLA L. KERN, MARK K. MCCOOL, JACQULYNNE A. MCCOOL, DWIGHT D. MECKEL, DEBORAH J. MECKEL, STEPHEN A. MOORE, JOANNE M. MOORE, RONALD N. TRUMBAUER, DORIS J. TRUMBAUER, WILLIAM ADAMS, EVELYN B. ADAMS, CHARLOTTE A. BATTERSBY, LINDA P. THOMPSON, RANDY CATLIN, JOSEPH CARUVANA, CARLOS CHIESA, MYRNA CHIESA, LOUIS S. COLASURDO, ELIZABETH K. COLASURDO, RICHARD A. COOPER, MYRA COOPER, ROBERT E. DEVITO, JANET M. DEVITO, JACK E. ELDRED, MARY K. ELDRED, CAROLE T. ELKIN, LARSEN FRANCHINO, FRANCA FRANCHINO, RICHARD W. FREESE, CHARLENE M. FREESE, ROSE MARIE GOOD, HOWARD J. GRONENDAHL, MARGARET A. GRONENDAHL, EDMUND HARING, DAVID HAUS, MARGARET HAUS, LINDA M. HELLER, DORIS M. SONTAGH, FERDINAND N. LATCH, NANCY D. LATCH, ANTHONY LEWANDOWSKI, ELIZABETH C. LEWANDOWSKI, DANIEL MCDONALD, JAYNE MCDONALD, RAYMOND MOTTO, BARBARA MOTTO, JOHN O'DONNELL, BARBARA O'DONNELL, WILLIAM PARKES, SALLY PARKES, RALPH PREUSTER, AUDREY PREUSTER, JOSEPH J. RINK, FRANCES M. RINK, HAROLD SCHELL, ANTOINETTE SCHELL, GEORGE F. SHIPMAN, LORRAINE SHIPMAN, FRANK SQUILLACE, DENNIS STEWART, ROSEANNE STEWART, RAYMOND VERBRUGGHE, ANNA MARIE VERBRUGGHE, RICHARD WALSH, BARBARA WALSH, MARGUERITE WISCH, DAVID WOLFINGER, CAROL WOLFINGER, JAMES ZISA, DENISE ZISA, GERARD F. ALTEMUS, MARY BETH ALTEMUS, JOHN E. AUGUSTINE, JOAN BAILEY, MORTON A. BALLIN, MARY J. BALLIN, ALFRED BISERTA, JUDITY BISERTA, KELLY BOLLINGER, CARL J. BUCHOLA, THERESA M. FIANDACA, WILLIAM E. CAMPBELL, LYNN E. CAMPBELL CARBON COUNTY AND CARBON COUNTY BOARD OF ASSESSMENT, Appellants.

FRIEDMAN, Judge.

Carbon County and Carbon County Board of Assessments (together, Appellants) appeal from two orders of the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County (trial court); a September 9, 1996 order concluding that Appellants' assessment of properties is defective because of a lack of uniformity, and a January 10, 1997 order directing Appellants to conduct a county-wide reassessment of all properties within Carbon County within two years of the date of the order.

On appeal to this court, Appellants first contend that the trial court erred or abused its discretion in concluding that Appellants' assessment of properties is constitutionally defective because it violates Article VIII, section I of the Pennsylvania Constitution requiring that all taxes be uniform. We find neither an error of law nor an abuse of discretion and affirm the trial court's September 9, 1996 order, adopting the well-reasoned opinion of Senior Judge Michael V. Franciosa in Ackerman, et. al v. Carbon County Board of Assessment, Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County, No. 94-2505, filed September 9, 1996.

Our scope of review in a tax assessment case is narrow. In re Appeal of V.V.P. Partnership, 647 A.2d 990 (Pa.Commw. 1994), alloc. denied, 540 Pa. 615, 656 A.2d 120 (1995). A verdict of the trial court will be affirmed unless it is not supported by substantial evidence, or the court abused its discretion or made an error of law. Id. We give the trial court's findings great deference and will not disturb its decision unless there is clear error. Id.

Next, Appellants challenge the trial court's authority to order a reassessment in this case. Once again, this issue was raised before the trial court and ably disposed of in the supplemental opinion of Senior Judge Michael V. Franciosa. As a result, we affirm the trial court's January 10, 1997 order and adopt the supplemental opinion, Ackerman et. al v. Carbon County and Carbon County Board of Assessment, Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County, No. 94-2505, filed January 10, 1997.

ORDER

AND NOW, this 3rd day of November, 1997, the orders of the Court of Common Pleas of Carbon County, dated September 9, 1996 and January 10, 1997, are hereby affirmed.

FLAHERTY, J., concurs in the result only.

ACKERMAN v. CARBON COUNTY

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