Two major businesses here are turning to Lancaster County Court in an effort to cut their yearly property taxes by a combined $376,000.

Alcoa and Hospitality Associates of Lancaster, owner of the Lancaster Host Resort, both filed appeals with the court Dec. 3.

The two businesses turned to county court in separate actions after being turned down by the Lancaster County Board of Assessment Appeals.

Alcoa wants the value of its 106-acre property on Manheim Pike — assessed at $23.3 million — reduced to $12.9 million.

If successful, Alcoa's annual tax bill would fall from $561,000 to $311,000, a drop of 45 percent.

"We're exercising the right that any property owner in the county has. That is, we're saying we think we might be charged too much," said Alcoa spokesman Kevin Lowery.

"We're more than happy to pay our fair share. The question is, what is the right amount?"

Likewise, Hospitality Associates wants the value of its 173-acre property on Lincoln Highway East — assessed at $17.5 million — lowered to less than $11 million.

If it wins the appeal, the resort owner's annual property tax bill would fall from $338,000 to $212,000, a drop of 37 percent.

Hospitality Associates attorney Richard Nuffort said its appeal is based on a recent appraisal, which found the property's value to be lower than the assessment.

"This is a straightforward market-value appeal," he said.

The two businesses are the latest of hundreds of property owners here to try to shrink their real-estate tax bill by getting their property's assessed value reduced.

A lower assessment would be good news for the businesses, obviously.

But it would be more bad news for the recipients of that tax revenue — the municipalities and school districts where they're located, plus the county.

"We're getting hammered," said Kim Seldomridge, director of administrative services for Conestoga Valley School District.

CV, which is home to the Lancaster Host, lost $512,000 in property tax revenue this school year and expects to lose another $425,000 next school year.

That's the impact of 50 tax reductions or tax eliminations won by property owners in the district that are taking effect during those times, he said.

The biggest property-tax action in CV affecting this school year was taken by Harrisburg Area Community College.

HACC won tax-exempt status for its Lancaster Campus. That subtracted $328,000 in annual property-tax revenue from CV.

For the next school year, CV will lose $136,000 in property-tax revenue from a reassessment of Rockvale Outlet's property, which lowered its property value by nearly $10 million.

While the outcome of the Hospitality Associates case remains to be determined, consider the impact of the minimum cut it's seeking, a reduction in assessed value to $11 million.

Given CV's tax rate of 14.287 mills, the resort's annual tax bill from the district would fall from $250,000 to $157,000.

In other words, Hospitality Associates would save — and CV would lose — $93,000.

Hospitality Associates' tax bills from East Lampeter Township and from Lancaster County would be reduced by $10,000 and $22,000 respectively.

The impact of Alcoa's bid for a lower assessment would be far greater.

Given Manheim Township School District's tax rate of 17.9525 mills, the maker of plate and cast aluminum would see its annual tax bill from the district fall from $419,000 to $233,000.

In other words, Alcoa would save — and the district would lose — $187,000.

Alcoa's tax bills from the township and from Lancaster County would be reduced by $28,000 and $36,000 respectively.

Alcoa's Lowery and school district officials declined to disclose what the company believes the property is worth.

However, Jeff Klugh, operations manager in the county's Office of Property Assessment, explained Alcoa's intentions.

The court filing this month is a protective appeal, preserving an unresolved action initially filed for 2005.

That action sought to lower the value of about half of the site.

When that proposed lower value for the 56.5 acres is adjusted to the present day, and added to the undisputed value of the remaining acres, the sum is what Alcoa contends the total tract is worth.

That figure is $12.9 million.

Back in CV, Seldomridge didn't blame Hospitality Associates for trying to save money.

"If they think their property is worth less, you can't blame them for doing it," he said.

The real issue, Seldomridge said, is that the county commissioners last year postponed a countywide reassessment, set to take effect in 2013, until 2017.

Property owners who figured that reassessment would acknowledge a decline in value don't want to wait until 2017, he said.

They're taking action now by appealing.

But property owners who think their assessed values are less than the true worth aren't so eager to get it squared away, Seldomridge noted.

Had there been countywide reassessment, the overvalued and undervalued properties would have roughly offset each other, he said.

Instead, only the overvalued properties are being addressed, through assessment appeals. There's no offset.

So school districts, municipalities and the county are losing revenue, he said.

"The county should have gone through with the reassessment," Seldomridge said. "That's the bottom line."

Commissioners Chairman Scott Martin defended the unanimous decision to delay reassessment.

Martin explained that at the time of last year's vote, market values were dropping, but remained above assessed values.

So for many property owners, reassessment would have meant a higher assessed value — and a higher property-tax bill — in the face of a lower market value.

The resulting anger and confusion would have triggered tens of thousands of reassessment appeals, Martin predicted.

The flood of appeals would have been "an administrative nightmare," he said.

"It would not have been a good scenario. Our thought was, let's give the market a little time to recover, so we have a little more stability," Martin said.

tmekeel@lnpnews.com