In a November 2019 trial, Judge Joseph Risi refused New York City’s appraised values for the Marriott Hotel at LaGuardia Airport. The judge instead used market and assessed values from the hotel taxpayer’s report, since the NYC valuations were done prior to the covid pandemic and show overvalues for hotel properties in the city. This ruling resulted in an 85% tax reduction levied against the hotel.
As per Joel Marcus of Marcus & Pollack LLP, who represented Queens Marriott Courtyard: “Every hotel owner should be cheered by this important decision, which stands for the proposition that you can get a redress and justice through the court system on a property tax challenge,” Jeffrey Lebowitz of Abrams Fensterman was co-counsel.
Noting that this is a new precedent for hotel tax rulings in New York, the firm Marcus & Pollack are looking to additional hotel cases in the future.