Frazer supervisors are trying to recoup more than $2.8 million in delinquent special tax assessments from three companies in the Pittsburgh Mills complex.
Earlier this month, the board authorized Solicitor Matt Marshall to file a “municipal claim-and-collection” lawsuit in Allegheny County Court against May Department Stores Co., the former parent company of Macy’s; Pitt Galleria Realty LLC, owners of the main mall building; and Pittsburgh Mills Auto Properties LLP, owners of a large vacant lot across a street to the side of the mall building.
The township is seeking nearly $340,000 from May Department Stores, a little over $2.1 million from Pitt Galleria Realty and more than $340,000 from Pittsburgh Mills Auto Properties.
None of the property owners could be reached for comment.
Township Supervisor Lori Ziencik said all of the mall property owners have paid their regular real estate taxes.
Special assessments were written into the original contracts of property owners at the complex. They were in place in the event that the TIF (Tax Incremental Financing) model failed, according to officials.
The township received $50 million through the Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority for a 2002 TIF. The money was used to pay for infrastructure that included the Route 28 interchange to access the Mills complex as well as roads within the 340-acre site, a sewer system, lighting, traffic signals and improvements to adjacent roads, such as Butler-Logan and Murray Hill.
Under the plan, the money has to be repaid using 75% of the county real estate tax revenue generated by the mall. When those revenues fall short, the special assessment comes into play.
Special assessments protect the bond holder when tax assessments are lowered because of appeal or other reasons.
Property assessment values at the Mills complex have plummeted in the past 16 years.
The mall was valued at $190 million in 2006. That figure had dropped to $30 million in February 2016 and fell to $11 million four months later, according to figures provided to the Tribune-Review at the time by Sean Barrie, a research analyst with New York City-based Trapp.
The township is obligated to collect the delinquent special assessments, but the money doesn’t go back to the township. It goes to Wells Fargo, holder of the bond, Marshall said.
This is the final year of the 20-year TIF program.
