Property Reassessment

Reassessment Lawyers are researching possibility of hearing formal appeals through Dec. 31

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

If Luzerne County can’t get to all assessment appeals by the Oct. 31 deadline, it might keep hearing appeals through the end of the year without seeking special court approval.

Read more Property Reassessments articles

click image to enlarge

Barr

click image to enlarge

Petrilla

Select images available for purchase in the
Times Leader Photo Store

Reassessment company representative Tim Barr said he raised the possibility to county officials because sections of the law appear to allow adjustments and corrections up until the time new tax bills are mailed.

The county had been discussing the possibility of seeking court approval for a 30-day extension, if necessary.

“At this point I don’t even know if they need to go to court,” Barr said, stressing that he is not portraying himself as a lawyer.

Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said county lawyers are researching the possibility of hearing formal appeals through Dec. 31 if the county can’t meet the Oct. 31 deadline. She has not yet received an official legal opinion.

“One of the things people need to understand is if we delay this reassessment, then the county will have to pay to redo the values, provide the manpower and reissue the values,” Petrilla said, estimating that repeating the process will cost millions of dollars.

“That’s why it’s critical that the reassessment be done, and that we find out what legal options are available,” she said.

Barr said third-class county assessment law says appeals must be heard by Oct. 31, but general assessment law says boards may hear appeals at any subsequent time prior to the payment of the tax.

“That might lead one to believe that the values are not locked in until the board finishes hearings,” Barr said.

The county appeals board is required to annually certify or provide an official tally of assessed values by Nov. 15.

However, Barr said this certification is more of a “status report” of the tax base prepared for the county, school districts and municipalities. The county always continues to add properties and additions after Nov. 15, Barr said.

Barr said the county must ask who would be “aggrieved,” or wronged, if hearings continue to be heard beyond Oct. 31, and he can’t think of anyone.

Taxing bodies may complain that they would have difficulty preparing 2009 budgets if they don’t receive final values by Nov. 15, but Barr said that argument wouldn’t hold water because taxing bodies must receive the same revenue in the first year after reassessment as they did the previous year – plus an optional up to 10 percent increase.

Barr said taxing bodies could prepare budgets based on that legal limit. If their estimated new millage rates are off, government officials could reopen their budgets around the end of 2008 to adjust the millage rates up or down, ensuring they receive the selected revenue, he said.

Property owners wouldn’t be hurt by extended hearings, Barr maintains, because the county would be ensuring that everyone who filed an appeal has an opportunity to be heard.

The county originally estimated that 17,000 appeals were filed, but county Assessment Director Tony Alu said he will use Commissioner Greg Skrepenak’s hand-counted tally of 18,492.

As of two weeks ago, 4,000 appeals had been heard and another 5,000 had been scheduled through the end of the month. Barr said he did not have a more recent update on the number of appeals heard and scheduled, though he is quick to emphasize that more people are cancelling or not showing up.

The county has added evening and Saturday hearings to increase the number heard.

Update on 15,000 informal decisions

Luzerne County Appeals Board Chairman Andy Shiner says appeals board members are reviewing the roughly 15,000 informal review changes recommended by the reassessment company.

County Assessment Director Tony Alu said his staff is separately reviewing the proposed changes as an added precaution.

Shiner said the review should be completed next week, allowing the values to be mailed to property owners.

Property owners who went through informal reviews will receive decision orders, regardless of whether they accepted them at their reviews. Property owners won’t get a new opportunity to appeal unless the county rejects the reassessment company’s recommendations.