OCEAN CITY – A team of court-appointed assessors has placed a price tag of $13 million on the Klause Enterprises’ property at the corner of 16th and Haven St., the Press of Atlantic City reported. The valuation is significantly higher than the previously assessed $9.8 million.
The property has been a source of local contention for several years now, ever since the car dealership on the site closed its doors in 2018.
In 2018, the city reportedly had a deal to acquire the lots owned by Harry and Jerry Klause for $9 million, but a local government watchdog organization, Fairness in Taxes, challenged the bond ordinance to fund the acquisition in a petition drive. The city’s attorney, Dottie McCrosson, reportedly said the petition delayed the deal and, in the meantime, the agreement of sale expired. The Klause brothers declined to renew it.
Part of the property is owned by the Klause brothers, while another portion is owned by the Palmer Center LLC, former city councilman John Flood’s company. Flood is the cousin of the Klause brothers. The updated valuation does not include the value of the smaller Palmer Center lot on the same block.
The city had sought to have the property condemned, but according to Dave Breeden, president of Fairness in Taxes, the city failed to deposit the properties’ estimated value with the court at the same time it submitted the motion for condemnation, allowing the owners to seek updated appraisals, raising the value, the Press reported.
Michael Ash, special counsel for the City Council, says Klause Enterprises and the city are both filing an appeal to the court-appointed team’s assessment. Ash suggested the question would likely land in front of a jury, the Press reported.
