Property Reassessment

luzerne county reassessment

November 11, 2008

30 days to appeal formal ruling

Property owners must file “petition for appeal” within 30 days of date on ruling.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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Luzerne County property owners who want to challenge their formal assessment appeal board rulings must file a form known as a “petition for appeal” within 30 days.

The 30-day clock begins on the date of mailing, which is printed on the ruling. For example, property owners who recently received rulings dated Nov. 5 will have until Dec. 5 to appeal.

Petitions for appeal are available in the prothonotary’s office at the county courthouse in Wilkes-Barre or the southern annex in West Hazleton.

The forms may be downloaded from the county’s Web site at www.luzernecounty.org (click on row offices, prothonotary and forms, and the form is under the category “P”).

The petition contains several blank spaces that require basic information, including the property identification number, the reassessment company’s original assessed value and any adjustments made by the county appeals board.

Petitions may be filed by mail or in person at the courthouse or the West Hazleton annex.

The property owner should file the original petition, which must contain the property owner’s original signature.

The property owner must also submit six copies to the prothonotary’s office to be time-stamped. Property owners are advised to make their own copies because the prothonotary’s office will charge 25 cents per page.

Property owners who want to mail the paperwork should send the original and six copies to the prothonotary’s office, along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope that the prothonotary’s office may use to return five of the six time-stamped copies.

The prothontary’s office keeps the original and one time-stamped copy to send to the mediator.

It is then the property owner’s responsibility to send a time-stamped copy of the petition to four parties: the county Board of Assessment Appeals, the appeals board solicitor, the school district and municipality in which the property is located. (See below for the appeals board/solicitor addresses.)

These copies may be sent by standard mail.

The property owner should keep the final time-stamped copy as a record.

The property owner must submit a “certificate of service” to the prothonotary’s office. That document, which is included with the petition for appeal form, indicates the property owner sent time-stamped copies to the required parties.

When filing the petition, the property owner must pay a $111.75 fee for each formal appeal board ruling being challenged. Rulings are issued by parcel, which means a property owner with multiple parcels would have to file separately for each.

The fee may be paid with cash, credit cards and checks made payable to the “Luzerne County Prothonotary.” Property owners paying by cash or credit card must file in person, but checks, money orders and cashier’s checks are accepted by mail. The prothonotary’s office accepts American Express, Visa, Mastercard and Discover.

Court challenges will go before specialty courts director Sam Guesto.

The prothonotary’s office will forward the property owner’s petition to the court, and Guesto will notify the property owner to schedule mediation. Mediation attempts to work out a settlement between both parties to avoid arbitration. The property owner and county appeals board must sign off on a settlement amount for it to take effect.

Court rules indicate property owners cannot seek the next step – a hearing before an arbitration panel – until the specialty courts director files a “mediation report.”

The fee for arbitration will be $51, and property owners will have to file a form known as a “praecipe for appointment of arbitrators.”

Sending court-challenge petitions

Property owners challenging their formal assessment appeal board rulings must send time-stamped copies of their petition for appeal to the following:

• Luzerne County Board of Assessment Appeals, Luzerne County Courthouse, 200 N. River St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711-1001.

• David E. Schwager, Esquire, solicitor to the Luzerne County Board of Assessment Appeals, 138 S. Main St., P.O. Box 910, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18703-0910.

• The school district in which the property is located. Check the school district for the appropriate recipient and mailing address.

• The municipality in which the property is located. Contact that municipality for the recipient and mailing address.

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

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