Mix-ups bedevil owners

Two Conyngham Township property owners say they still don’t know the new assessed values on two of their properties because Luzerne County’s reassessment company mixed up the property descriptions.

Their stories get confusing.

Henry Szczepanski owns a house at 3 Hill St. in the Mocanaqua section, but his new notice said the property was a vacant piece of land with no structure, valued at $14,000.

A search of that parcel on the reassessment company’s online database generates a picture of another vacant land parcel that he owns at 124 R. Main St. The same picture and value appear online for the Main Street parcel.

After further online research, Szczepanski and his wife, Kim, found the correct picture and partial property description of their house listed under the ownership of Daniel and Sharon Kubasek, a couple who never had any relationship or tie to the property.

The detective work was done by typing in “3 Hill St.” in the database advanced location search. The picture was found under a different street address – 3 Hillside St.

Kubasek found the problem when he received his notices on five properties and went online to research them.

He said the purchase information about his 102 Main St. parcel was accurate, but the picture and property description belonged to Szczepanski’s structure.

Kubasek said he called the reassessment company, 21st Century Appraisals Inc., to point out the error and to request the correct value and information be sent, but was told he would have to come in for a review.

“It’s a pain. Why do I have to take time off from work and go to a hearing for their mistake?”

His notice says the 0.17-acre property at 3 Hillside St. has been valued at $47,100 -- $12,700 for the land and $34,400 for the house.

When Kim Szczepanski called 21st Century to point out a house was missing from the value, she was also advised that a personal visit was required.

Szczepanski said she and her husband could have pretended they didn’t notice the missing house, and possibly avoid paying taxes on it, but they aren’t like that.

Kubasek said he may end up paying more because of his willingness to correct the error. The values and taxes increased on all five of his properties, but the incorrect value attached to the Main Street parcel had the lowest percentage increase.

Szczepanski went to an informal review on July 16 and pointed out the missed property. The representative couldn’t explain why the structure wasn’t valued and told her the new value would be $60,300, including $20,000 for the land, she said. She was supposed to receive a new notice in writing but still hasn’t.

Szczepanski is in the process of filing a formal appeal because she doesn’t want to lose her right to file, but she said she still has no official property description or value to contest.

“Other people might have the same problem and not even realize it. They might assume the information is correct because it’s coming from the county,” she said.

Szczepanski warned property owners that some notices may not be received because of address confusion. She received the assessment notice for the Mocanaqua Sporting Club, which is at 124 E. Main St. Szczepanski said she delivered the notice to the club but wonders if others who received notices incorrectly will throw them out.

Tim Barr of 21st Century could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon on this specific matter, but has said in the past that some mistakes will be found. He encourages property owners to take advantage of informal reviews to correct errors.