Elmhurst Group v. Board of Property Assessment Appeals & Review

DISSENTING OPINION BY

Senior Judge FRIEDMAN.

I respectfully dissent. The majority holds that, where property is subject to a long-term commercial lease, the value of the property for tax purposes depends on whether the taxpayer is the owner or the lessee of the property. For the following reasons, I cannot agree that the identity of the taxpayer dictates a property’s value for tax purposes.

In re Appeal of Marple Springfield Center, Inc., 530 Pa. 122, 125, 607 A.2d 708, 709 (1992) (emphasis added), our Supreme Court stated:

The statutory foundation for tax assessments is ... fail' market value:…