A court stipulation has settled a property assessment dispute between a Palmerton area business and the county board of assessment appeals.

The county commissioners approved the stipulation between the county, Palmerton Area School District and Forest Inn Property LLC, regarding a civil case over the assessment of Country Junction in Towamensing Township.

The stipulation adjusts the property assessment to $1,331,200 for tax year 2024 and $1,273,600 for tax year 2025.

“Every time we approve these, the county, municipalities and school districts lose funding,” Commissioner Wayne Nothstein said after the action.

Carbon County partnered with Palmerton Area School District last February to complete an independent appraisal of the site at a cost of $7,000. At the time, it was noted that Towamensing Township declined to participate.

The appraisal was a result of a petition filed by the company that stated that the board of assessments assessed the property in question at $2,785,884 with a fair market value of $13,393,673; however, an appraisal by the company determined a fair market value of $4.8 million.

In the case, the board of assessment appeals lowered the market value to $8,495,918.

In another stipulation, the commissioners approved another action between the county, Jim Thorpe Area School District and Penn Forest Entertainment LLC in the matter of a board of assessment appeals case. The parcel involved is Penn’s Peak.

In that stipulation, the court has ruled that the assessment for the property shall be adjusted to $832,000 for 2024 and $796,000 for 2025.

Last February, Carbon County and Jim Thorpe Area School District spent $7,500 on an independent appraisal and market value of the site.

In 2023, the board of assessment appeals assessed the property at $1,421,800 with a fair market value of $6,835,577.

An appraisal completed by Penn Forest Entertainment LLC concluded that the fair market value should be $3,280,000.

A hearing then resulted in the board lowering the assessed value to $1,039,501 with a fair market value of $4,997,600, which the company stated was “still significantly in excess of the fair market value.”

Penn Forest Entertainment claimed the assessment was “excessive ... deprives the taxpayer of due process and equal protection of the laws ... (and) is improper, inequitable and unjust.”

On Jan. 10, 2025, Judge Joseph Matika continued the case based on a motion from the Carbon County Board of Assessment to March 17.