The Fourth Department determined three commercial properties had been overvalued for real property tax purposes. The court discussed the relevant evidentiary criteria in considerable depth:
…[P]etitioners met their initial burden of presenting “substantial evidence that the propert[ies were] overvalued” …, thereby rebutting the “presumption of validity [that] attaches to the valuation of property made by the taxing authority” … . “In the context of tax assessment cases, the substantial evidence' standard merely requires that petitioner demonstrate the existence of a valid and credible dispute regarding valuation” … . “The ultimate strength, credibility or persuasiveness of petitioner's arguments are not germane during this threshold inquiry” … . Here, petitioners submitted appraisals by a qualified expert who valued the subject properties utilizing the income capitalization approach to valuation, which is “generally regarded as the preferred method for determining the value of income-producing propert[ies]” such as those at issue in this case …. Further, the appraisals “contained documentation and calculations to support the underlying methodolog[y] and the ultimate valuation” … . “The fact that some aspects of [the expert]'s valuation methodology may be subject to question goes to the weight to be accorded the appraisal[s] and not to the threshold issue of whether petitioner[s] produced substantial evidence to rebut the presumption of validity' … .
… It is well established that “valuation [is] largely a question of fact, and the [trial] courts have considerable discretion in reviewing the relevant evidence as to the specific propert[ies] before them” … . “As a general rule, actual rental income is often the best indicator of value” … , although actual income ” may be disregarded where it does not reflect full value' ” … . Here, there is no evidence that the rents petitioners charged were arbitrary or the result of collusion or self-dealing …, and respondents “failed to establish that the actual income was not reflective of the market for the years under review” … . * * *
“The ultimate purpose of valuation . . . is to arrive at a fair and realistic value of the property involved” … . The income capitalization approach to valuation “rests on the proposition that the value of income-producing property is the amount a willing buyer, desiring but not compelled to purchase it as an investment, would be prepared to pay for it under ordinary conditions to a seller who desires, but is not compelled, to sell . . . That amount will depend on the net income the property will likely produce inasmuch as the purchase price represents the present worth of anticipated future benefits” … . Here, the ” net income the property will likely produce' ” …, at least for the next 30 years, is the amount of the ground lease. Matter of Techniplex III v Town & Vil of E Rochester, 2015 NY Slip Op 01101, 4th Dept 2-6-15