WOODBRIDGE — With over 1.5 million square feet and 220 stores, Potomac Mills mall is one of the region’s largest shopping destinations.
More than just shoppers from Woodbridge, where it’s located, the mall regularly inhales visitors from as far away as New Jersey and South Carolina, according to the Simon Property Group, which acquired the center in 2007.
Success for the mall, it seems, has come with a price. In a lawsuit against Prince William County, the mall claims it overpaid by $404.5 million in property taxes between 2013 and 2018. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2016 and then amended to include the tax years 2017 and 2018.
In the lawsuit, the mall claims county assessors overvalued the land on which the mall sits.
The mall sits on two properties — 2700 and 2860 Potomac Mills Circle in Woodbridge. It claims it was overassessed on both properties during each tax year.
According to court documents:
- 2013: Both properties assessed for a combined $440.5 million. The mall, however, says the combined value of the properties did not exceed $390 million.
- 2014: Both properties were assessed for $489 million. The mall, however, says the combined value of the properties did not exceed $395 million.
- 2015: Both properties were assessed at $508.3 million. The mall, however, says the combined value of the properties did not exceed $400 million.
- 2016: Both properties were assessed at $496 million. The mall, however, says the combined value of the properties did not exceed $395 million.
- 2017: Both properties were assessed at $479 million. The mall, however, says the combined value of the properties did not exceed $395 million.
- 2018: Both properties were assessed for $474 million. The mall, however, says the combined value of the properties did not exceed $380 million.
The mall’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
The case was set to go to a bench trial for nine days in March. The Prince William County Board of Supervisors agreed to settle the case in mid-January, offering a tax refund of $2.5 million for all of the tax years the mall claimed it overpaid.
Prince William County Attorney Michele Robl told Potomac Local she does not anticipate the case going to court.
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