Property Reassessment

November 4, 2008

Assessment appeal rulings out Wednesday

8,912 property owners will be mailed results, also available online; 8,043 values changed.

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

Formal assessment appeal decisions will be mailed to about 9,000 Luzerne County property owners on Wednesday, ending waits that have stretched up to four months.

Appeal boards changed 8,043 values, while another 869 requests for reductions were denied, said Tim Barr, of reassessment company 21st Century Appraisals Inc.

Most of the changes are reductions, Barr said. He plans to compile a report within a few days on the combined amount of assessment reduction granted.

Property owners will have 30 days to file court-level challenges.

Another 1,146 decision orders will be mailed Wednesday to property owners who withdrew or failed to appear for their formal appeals, Barr said. These property owners don’t have the right to file court challenges, he said.

All results will be posted Wednesday on 21st Century’s online database, at www.courthouseonline.com, Barr said.

Barr said he reviewed the appeal board rulings and has no complaints.

“My impression is that the appeals boards were fair and balanced. They made corrections where appropriate without unjustified reductions,” Barr said.

County Assessor’s Office Director Tony Alu said he believes many property owners will be “satisfied.”

“Maybe you’ll get a few who won’t be happy, but I think the system worked. I think the changes were well within reason,” Alu said.

If reduction requests were denied, appeal boards did not find “compelling” evidence, Barr said.

“If someone still feels their property is not assessed correctly after the formal, they can present evidence to the court as to what they feel it’s worth,” Barr said.

County judges decided those challenges will be heard by an arbitration panel of three attorneys. Property owners who challenge must pay a $111.75 filing fee and another $51 fee to schedule the arbitrators.

The prothonotary’s office must process the requests and schedule arbitration panels.

Some county officials still hope judges will rethink this change in rules, especially if the number of court challenges falls below original estimates of 2,000 to 5,000.

Property owners who do not receive formal appeal reductions will learn through the upcoming decision orders whether changes made during informal reviews were accepted by the board, Barr said.

The 9,000 decisions are from formal assessment appeals that were heard before Oct. 31.

The owners of at least 1,000 appeals heard before this date will remain in the dark longer because their values were flagged during internal auditing, Barr said. The audit compared the proposed new values in the database with the board’s rulings, Barr said.

The county will recheck the paperwork for those properties and send rulings as soon as possible, Barr said.

Barr originally estimated that about 14,000 formal appeal decisions had been scheduled before Oct. 31, which leaves about 3,000 that aren’t flagged or set to be mailed Wednesday. Barr said he will determine the reason for the difference but believes most of these appeals were rescheduled, withdrawn or situations where property owners did not show up.

The mailing of formal appeal decisions will continue because appeals are expected to be heard into December. Roughly 5,000 appeals have been scheduled for November, Barr said. The county hasn’t announced when these property owners will receive their rulings.

Another 1,700 revised notices will be sent to property owners Thursday, based on new information or tips, Barr said. Those property owners will have 40 days to file formal appeals.

County officials decided to hear appeals after Oct. 31 because they don’t want to have to redo the reassessment next year.

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