DP News

November 14, 2009

Harveys Lake couple happy with new value

After poster protest, the Barbers settle reassessment at court-level mediation.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
Jennifer Learn-Andes on Facebook   |   @TLJenLearnAndes on Twitter

Harveys Lake property owners Linda and Boyd Barber became poster children in Luzerne County’s reassessment with their homemade yard sign reading, “For sale. Cheap. $875,600.”

Linda also broke down sobbing at the podium of a county commissioners meeting.

The couple recently settled their dispute at court-level mediation, accepting an assessment of $450,000.

“For now, we’re happy,” said Linda Barber.

The couple may still file an assessment appeal next year because their certified appraisal pegged the property at $413,000, she said.

Barber said she and her husband had seriously discussed the possibility of selling their home because of reassessment, despite the struggling real estate market.

School, county and local taxes will be $5,800 on the new assessment, compared to $11,330 on the original one.

“To pay that much tax, we would have had to move. Now we will have to come up with $500 a month for our taxes, instead of almost a thousand,” she said.

Barber said she had difficulty controlling her emotions throughout the reassessment challenge process because she did not want to lose the home she’s owned since 1971. She raised six children there.

She broke down and cried at a packed commissioners meeting in July 2008 when she discussed her complaints about the reassessment. Her son, Steven, followed with his own comment to commissioners: “You can all burn in hell.”

“I’m not a public speaker, and I’m the type that if something really bothers me, I fall apart,” she said.

Boyd Barber, who was elected to borough council on Nov. 3, has said he doesn’t mind paying his fair share, but not such a drastic increase. The Barbers paid about $1,500 in taxes before reassessment.

The home on 0.41-acre is attractive with a good view, but the Barbers have said the former farmhouse is outdated and needs work, including a new well. Some of the walls of the early-1800s home are crooked, and there’s no interior access to the unfinished basement.

The Barbers went to mediation because they were not satisfied with the $758,400 value granted at a formal appeal.

The mediation settlement reduced the land from $560,000 to $300,000 and the structure from $198,400 to $150,000.

The anti-reassessment sign, which was featured in several media reports, is now stored in the home as a keepsake, she said.

“My husband likes to make a sign when he’s upset about something. He’ll probably eventually paint over it when he needs to make another sign,” she said.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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