Is Allegheny County's Biggest House Under-Assessed?
BELL ACRES (KDKA) -- At 33,000 square feet with 34 rooms, 12 bedrooms, 22 fireplaces, not to mention the Roman Villa swimming pool, terraced gardens, tennis court and basketball court, it's the biggest house in the region.
It's even jaw-dropping to appraiser Gary Bodnar who thought he'd seen it all.
When I first drove by it, I thought it was a castle," said Bodnar. "This is the biggest house I've ever seen. It's humongous."
Owner Joseph Nocito Sr. might appear to have it all, but right now, he's in the crosshairs of a federal tax evasion investigation.
His personal assistant, Ann Harris, has plead guilty to fraud charges for allegedly writing off millions of dollar of Nocito's personal expenditures as business expenses. Those include down payments on the swimming pool, furnishing for his staff quarters and down payments on his Rolls Royce.
Her attorney says she was just doing what she was told.
"We did this, we did do it at someone else's direction, but it was something we did, and so we're pleading guilty to it," said attorney James DePasquale.
But, is Nocito ducking property taxes on the house itself? The house is currently assessed at $4.2 million, which may sound like a lot of money, but not to Bodnar.
Bodnar: "Just looking at it and knowing what i know about it, I would say that's ridiculously low."
KDKA's Andy Sheehan: "Ridiculous."
Bodnar: "Ridiculously low."
The county originally assessed the house at $9.5 million, which was upheld by the county Appeals Board.
"The board rejected the appeal and the remedy then was to go across the street to the Court of Common Pleas," said Appeals Board attorney David Montgomery.
The Common Pleas Board of Viewers did reduce Nocito's assessment to $4.2 million, about a third of what the Quaker Valley School District said it was worth.
Their appraisal put a replacement value on the house at $11.5 million, and that was before Nocito added the pool and the basketball and tennis courts, which expert says would run an addition $2 or $3 million.
Quaker Valley fought the reduction, but eventually signed off on it.
Their lawyer says they were convinced there were few buyers willing to spend more, especially since the house reflects the over-the-top taste of the present owner.
Montgomery likens it to Rolls Royce that Antonio Brown drove to Pittsburgh Steelers training camp this spring, the details give it limited resale value.
"That black and gold Rolls Royce might be worth more to Antonio Brown than you or I might be willing to pay for it. If we had the money," Montgomery said.
They say in matters of taste there is no dispute, but that won't stop people from arguing about how much the place is worth and whether its owner is paying his fair share in property taxes.
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