Rigas sues county

Property owner Doris Rigas is disputing the assessment on what appears to be the residence with the highest assessed value in Potter County. The Rigas home on Rt. 49 east of Coudersport, along with 104 acres and an apartment building, is the focus of a lawsuit in which Rigas’s attorney maintains that the assessed value should be approximately $180,000 lower than the figure set by the county. A civil lawsuit has been filed in Potter County Court by Doris Rigas of Coudersport against the county’s Board of Assessment Appeals, asking that the assessed value of property she owns be reduced by more than $180,000.

Filed by attorney William Stokes of Wellsboro, the complaint maintains that the property was appraised by Dean Appraisal Services at an assessed value for tax purposes of $441,145, instead of the $623,120 figure set by the county.

The property is located off Rt. 49 and Baker Creek Road, east of Coudersport, and contains the Rigas home, 104 acres and a renovated barn across the road.

According to Chief Assessor Joe Lewis, the board agreed after a hearing to lower the assessment for tax purposes to $574,310.

The Rigases have sued, maintaining that the assessment is “excessive, arbitrary, unreasonable, unjust, lacking in conformity and in complete disregard of the ratio between market value and assessed value.”

It asks the court to reduce the assessment to the $441,145 figure reflected in the Dean appraisal, as well as to make the county responsible for legal costs.

Assessment Appeals Board Chairman Doug Morley said the county plans to defend its position that the assessment is fair. Morley acknowledged that outside counsel will be retained, as solicitor D. Bruce Cahilly has informed the board of a conflict of interest, since he represents the Rigas family in another matter.

When the state’s “common level ratio” is applied to the county’s figure to arrive at the property’s market value (acreage, home, renovated barn, swimming pools, golf holes, etc.), it is about $2.4 million. County officials say setting the market value is hard because there are no comparable properties.

The Rigases’ bill for 2009 taxes was $7,664 to the county, $312 to Hebron Township, and $25,043 to Coudersport Area School District.