Property Reassessment

COUNTY REASSESSMENT Inconsistent values loom when regular members not doing all properties, says expert in field

August 13, 2008

Auxiliary board appeals questioned

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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While using auxiliary boards of assessment appeals will help Luzerne County get through its reassessment more quickly, it could also result in a greater occurrence of similar properties having dissimilar tax assessments, according to a manual used by the county Assessment Office.

The county commissioners appointed 12 people to four auxiliary boards, and eight alternates, to assist the Board of Assessment Appeals with the thousands of appeals expected during the first countywide reassessment since 1965.

County assessment director Tony Alu said the number of assessment appeal applications received by his office jumped from about 9,500 on Friday to approximately 15,000 as of Tuesday. All appeals must be heard by Oct. 31 for the new values to take effect in 2009.

Alu said he expected the deluge because Monday was the filing deadline. He expects more applications to arrive by mail from outlying areas. They will be accepted as long as they are postmarked on or before Aug. 11.

County Assessment Appeals Board Chairman Andy Shiner has said the board devised a schedule to hear as many as 17,000 appeals by Oct. 31, but use of the auxiliary boards are necessary to meet the deadline.

“The downside of having one regular and four auxiliary boards of assessment appeals is that these boards may make valuation decisions that are totally inconsistent with each other,” according to “Assessment Law & Procedure in Pennsylvania, 2008 Edition,” written by Bert M. Goodman.

Goodman wrote that because property valuation is “a subjective science,” not all board members will view value in the same manner.

“Instead of three members of the regular board sitting together and making decisions on the evidence for all realty within the county, there will now be five boards with 15 members making these decisions. This could result in very similar realty having very dissimilar assessments and tax liabilities,” Goodman wrote.

Assessment law allows for the creation of up to four auxiliary boards, the appointment of 12 members to fill those boards and up to eight alternates.

While state law requires that auxiliary board members be competent and qualified residents of the county, Goodman notes that the law specifies no qualifications for the appointment of alternate auxiliary board members.

“The alternates are not required to be residents of the county and can be selected from people who do not necessarily live in the county or who are not even familiar with the geographical area,” he wrote.

He also wrote that the downside of filling auxiliary boards with alternates is adding “more chaos and confusion during a countywide reassessment.

“As stated previously, the provision of one regular and four auxiliary boards holding hearings results in a tendency to have inconsistent board determinations of real property values in a county. The addition of floating alternate board members with equal decision-making powers can result in even more bizarre outcomes and the lack of uniformity in assessments,” Goodman wrote.

Shiner did not return messages left at his office on Monday or Tuesday.

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