A property tax assessment appeal filed in the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas on Dec. 1 by Stabilis Split Rock JV LLC could mean a large financial loss for Jim Thorpe and Weatherly school districts, Kidder Township and Carbon County.

Owners of the resort, located along near Routes 80 and 940 in Lake Harmony, are challenging the value of three parcels including the 40.9-acre Galleria indoor water park, 134.3-acre Mountain Laurel Resort and 245.49-acre property housing 50 condominium units.The condominium buildings were assessed at $15,532,427, the water park at $13,333,290, and resort at $5,364,675.Split Rock's appraisals came in at $3,280,000, $2,232,000 and $242,000 respectively.According to court documents submitted by Split Rock's attorney Michael Ozalas, of Jim Thorpe, Weatherly School District would lose $96,515 in property tax money and Jim Thorpe Area School District would be down $503,820 if the resort gets the reduction it is requesting.The property tax loss to Carbon County would be $138,333 and $62,755 to Kidder Township."It seems like every four or five years we come up with some substantial appeals that end up in court," said Dan Miscavige, solicitor for both the Carbon County Commissioners and Weatherly School District."As long as the state is using property tax this will be the case. The districts rely on the property tax funding."Weatherly Business Manager David Marsiglio said any loss in property tax income is a big hit to a small district."When you look at it, $90,000 is a teaching position with benefits," Marsiglio said."We've been in a financial crunch and we've lost money in our assessment in the past. We are just starting to make a little ground after the bottom fell out in 2008. This would significantly impact the district."For all three parcels, Ozalas wrote that Split Rock has a "fair market value that is significantly less than the total assessed value used by the county's board of assessment appeals."Weatherly has around 110 employees, split between full-time and part-time."The district is one of the biggest employers and is really the hub of this community," Marsiglio said. "If there is a position gone, it really has an impact on the students. I understand Split Rock's situation as well. They are not immune to the economic situation. It's a double-edged sword. We want to help our local economy, but we also want the taxes."Split Rock is the latest significant tax assessment appeal in the county.Ametek Inc. is seeking a $1 million reduction in the fair market value of two properties, located along Route 54 in Nesquehoning, that would equate to a $42,049.32 in reduction of taxes.If Ametek would be successful in its appeal requesting the change in market value of the two properties, it would mean $5,165.45 less in tax revenue for Carbon County; $7,811.17 less for Nesquehoning and $29,072.70 less for Panther Valley School District.The appeals usually hit districts out of the blue, Marsiglio said."Right now we have a shortfall that we are covering with our fund balance," he added. "There is a bottom to our fund balance. It makes things more difficult when we get into what is best for our students with the limited amount of money we have."According to Miscavige, the next step in the Split Rock appeal is for the taxing bodies to hire an independent appraiser."That costs a fair amount of money, but we all get together and split it," he said. "We need an expert because none of the attorneys can tell you what the fair market value of these parcels are."A hearing has been scheduled for 1:15 p.m. Jan. 22. Jim Thorpe school officials did not respond as of press time.