Criteria for Determining If Land Is Overvalued Explained

n finding that petitioner did not meet its burden of demonstrating the tax assessor overvalued petitioner’s land, the Second Department explained the analytical criteria:

“In an RPTL article 7 tax certiorari proceeding, a rebuttable presumption of validity attaches to the valuation of property made by the taxing authority. Consequently, a taxpayer challenging the accuracy of an assessment bears the initial burden of coming forward with substantial evidence that the property was overvalued by the assessor. In the context of tax assessment cases, . . . the substantial evidence standard requires the taxpayer to demonstrate the existence of a valid and credible dispute regarding valuation. If the taxpayer satisfies this threshold burden, the presumption disappears and the court must weigh the entire record, including evidence of claimed deficiencies in the assessment, to determine whether petitioner has established by a preponderance of the evidence that its property has been overvalued” … .

Here, while the petitioner’s submissions were sufficient to demonstrate a “valid and credible dispute regarding valuation” of the properties in the relevant years …, they were insufficient to meet the petitioner’s burden to show that the properties were overvalued by the respondent. Matter of Peaceful Val. Land Stewardship, LLC v Johnson, 2015 NY Slip Op 07846, 2nd Dept 10-28-15