The Centre County Assessment Appeals Board decided last week that Penn State must pay the county $47,000 as part of an in-lieu-of-tax agreement for the university's baseball stadium.
The decision ends a yearlong dispute between the county and the university regarding the amount of in-lieu-of-tax payments Penn State owes for Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, according to a Penn State press release.
The 110,000 square-foot stadium opened in 2006 and is home to Penn State's club baseball team. The State College Spikes, a minor league baseball team, also play in the stadium during the summer months.
The Spikes have an operating agreement with Penn State to use the field, but the university owns the structure itself.
Under the agreement, Penn State is required to pay fees on campus properties that are leased by private entities. These payments are determined by local tax rates.
In 2005, Penn State and county officials discussed an annual payment of $40,000 on the stadium, according to the Penn State press release.
When county commissioners informed the university last spring that the fees totaled an annual payment of $233,000 -- nearly six times the original estimation --Penn State challenged the assessment.
The Assessment Appeals Board is a three-member panel within the Centre County Office of Tax Assessment with the purpose of correcting over-assessed or under-assessed properties. Both property owners and taxing bodies may submit requests to the board.
"We are obviously pleased with the ruling on Medlar Field and we feel it was a fair decision," Penn State spokeswoman Lisa Powers said.
County Commissioner Chris Exarchos said he was "disappointed" by the ruling and does not agree with the logic that the board employed to arrive at its decision.
Exarchos said the board determined the amount Penn State owed to the county based on how many games the Spikes played at the stadium.
"That's like if someone has a second home that they only use for six months of the year," Exarchos said. "They don't get a property tax rebate based on how many days they are actually in their home."
The Spikes use the stadium for about two-thirds of the year, Exarchos said, and Penn State should pay tax fees based on the amount of time they are in control of the field, not how many games are played on it.
While this tax-related dispute between the university and the county has been resolved, the county is still demanding payments on several other campus properties that are leased out to private businesses.
County commissioners filed a lawsuit against Penn State in late August alleging that the university owes $267,000 in in-lieu-of-tax payments that it has failed to pay on Panda Express in the HUB-Robeson Center, the Penn State Visitor Center and the Penn State Bookstore.
Exarchos said although the county is asking for monetary payments, the lawsuit really seeks to ensure that Penn State abides by a clause of the in-lieu-of-tax agreement stipulating that Penn State must turn over new leases to the county within 30 days of their signing.
Penn State has continually failed to do so, Exarchos said, which in turn prevents the county from collecting payments.
"If they don't make us aware of them," he said, "then the process of determining the amount of payments can't even begin."
