Lawsuit: County overvalued Residence at Timber Pines
The owners of the high-end assisted living facility file their third lawsuit in two years against the county property appraiser and tax collector.
By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published December 4, 2003
BROOKSVILLE - The owners of the Residence at Timber Pines, an upscale assisted living facility in Spring Hill where top rooms rent for $3,700 a month, are fighting to pay lower county taxes.
At stake is some of the $835,000 Millennium Ventures Limited Partnership LLP has paid the county in property taxes during the past three years.
On Monday, Millennium Ventures filed its third lawsuit in two years against the county property appraiser and tax collector. The lawsuits says the county overvalued the Residences at Timber Pines in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
The assisted living facility opened on 3140 Forest Road in May 2000, offering 128 apartments and suites for 155 people. The company has contested every full year it has had to pay taxes on the land and improvements to the assisted living facility buildings.
In 2003, the county assessed the assisted living facility at $13.7-million, and Millennium Ventures paid $292,812 in taxes. In 2002, it was assessed $13-million and the company paid $267,581. In 2001, it was assessed at $12.6-million, and the company paid $274,725.
The complaint says the county hasn't taken into consideration the bad economy for assisted living facilities, among other criticisms of the county's assessment.
"Because of a substantial down turn in the adult care living facility industry brought about by recent legislative and regulatory changes applicable to this property, the assessment vastly exceeds the price a purchaser would pay in today's market," the complaint states.
Pat Bilich, a spokeswoman for the Goodman Group, of Chaska, Minn., which is one of the partners in Millennium Ventures, declined to comment about the case.
Assisted living facilities nationwide have struggled with overbuilding and low occupancy rates, said Bradley Schurman of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging in Washington. Neither he nor his counterparts at the Florida chapter could point to specific statutory or legislative changes in Florida or federal law that have economically affected the industry.
An older Millennium Ventures lawsuit included an exhibit that showed recent sales of county assisted living facilities as an example of the going rate of assisted living facilities in Hernando County. Most sold for $3.6-million or less. Evergreen Woods sold for $6.1-million in 1998 and it offers 250 beds, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration.
On its Web site, the Residence at Timber Pines boasts 28 landscaped acres "complete with paved and lighted walking paths, butterfly gardens and ponds."
Millennium Ventures is the only company that has challenged the county property appraiser's assessments this year, said chief deputy appraiser Nick Nikkinen.
The county appraiser considers economic indicators during its regular assessments, said Nikkinen, who also declined to talk more specifically about the case.
"This is just a difference of opinion over values," Nikkinen said.
