Article Courtesy of The Real Deal
By Grancisco Alvarado
Published August 21, 2017
The assessment war between Miami-Dade Property Appraiser
Pedro Garcia and the owners of prominent properties across the county rages
on.
In the latest skirmish, the condominium associations for
two oceanfront luxury towers on Collins Avenue in Miami
Beach and Bal Harbour are suing Garcia, Miami-Dade Tax
Collector Marcus Saiz de la Mora and Leon Biegalski, Florida
Department of Revenue’s executive director, in an attempt to
significantly reduce property assessments from 2016. How
Garcia calculates a property’s value determines how much in
taxes the collector levies against owners of luxury
buildings.
A spokeswoman for Garcia said the appraiser’s office doesn’t
comment on pending litigation and Jason Block, the attorney
for Central Carillon Beach Condominium Association and for
the Bal Harbour Center Condominium Association, did not
respond to a phone message seeking comment. Central Carillon
is a 36-story tower at 6801 Collins Avenue that was formerly
Canyon Ranch Residences Miami Beach. Bal Harbour Center is a
27-story residential building at 9703 Collins Avenue that is
part of the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort and Residences
complex.
The July 26 complaints filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court
allege that the property appraiser’s assessments for the
common elements of the two towers are “arbitrarily based on
appraisal practices which are not professionally accepted”
and “are not standard practice in Miami-Dade.” |
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The assessment war between Miami-Dade Property
Appraiser Pedro Garcia and the owners of prominent properties across
the county rages on.
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The Carillon Beach condo association is contesting $1.3 million in combined
taxes and assessments for 140 unit owners. On behalf of 55 unit owners, the
Bal Harbour Center condo association is fighting $2.6 million in combined
taxes and assessments.
Since his reelection in 2014, litigation between Garcia and property owners
has ramped up. Last year, the property appraiser filed more than two dozen
civil lawsuits to undo reduced assessments granted to property owners by the
Miami-Dade Value Adjustment Board. Garcia’s predecessor, Lt. Gov. Carlos
Lopez Cantera, did not initiate any lawsuits against property owners that
received value adjustments during his one year in office.
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