Property Reassessment

February 21, 2009

County to speed up mediations of property assessments

Mediation sessions will be cut from 60 minutes to 30 starting in May, an official says.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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Luzerne County Court officials plan to process property assessment mediations more quickly, and the judges may opt to eliminate the arbitration and/or special master steps altogether.

While faster processing of mediations may force property owners to be more succinct at their mediation conferences, it is good news for property owners who want more timely resolution.

Property owners must pay their taxes based on the contested values until they receive mediation settlements. Overpayments would then be reimbursed for 2009 and, if applicable, 2010.

About 2,000 property owners ended up challenging their assessed values to court. The court is currently processing about 20 cases per week. At that pace, mediation wouldn’t wrap up until late summer or fall 2010.

Deputy Court Administrator Peter J. Adonizio, who recently assumed furloughed Sam Guesto’s duties overseeing mediation, said Friday that the pace will pick up in May.

Mediation conferences have already been scheduled through April, but court will start scheduling 30 minutes per session instead of an hour starting May 4, Adonizio said.

Adonizio said he will work with both parties – the property owner and county assessment appeals board Solicitor David Schwager.

“We’ll try to listen to both sides and hopefully come to a resolution,” Adonizio said.

As of Friday afternoon, 152 mediation settlements had been filed in the prothonotary’s office. No unsettled cases have been filed to date.

The first 86 settlements resulted in $3.9 million in assessment reductions. Property owners get to mediation by filing court challenges contesting the values set by county assessment appeal boards.

Schwager said Friday that many cases have reached settlement without requiring a conference.

The possibility of eliminating the arbitration and special master steps has come about for several reasons: a change in court leadership; the success resolving differences at the mediation level; and a new petition from Harveys Lake urging the county to eliminate the step.

Harveys Lake residents have started a petition urging new President Judge Chester Muroski to eliminate the mediation and arbitration stages and allow property owners to go straight to a special master.

The petition was initiated by their desire to force reassessment company 21st Century Appraisals Inc. to provide evidence about the values.

However, Schwager said he does not believe mediation can be stopped midstream because all property owners must have the same access to court-challenge procedures.

Muroski said Schwager will submit recommendations on the elimination of additional court-challenge steps for consideration at Tuesday’s en banc meeting of county judges.

Former president Judge Mark Ciavarella, who recently pleaded guilty to accepting kickbacks, established the current assessment challenge system, arguing that judges couldn’t process the high number of assessment challenges in addition to their existing caseloads.

Property owners who don’t reach mediation settlements have the right to go before a three-lawyer arbitration panel and, if still dissatisfied, a special master. Special masters must be attorneys, and a court stenographer would be assigned to document the proceeding.

21st Century representative Tim Barr said he wholeheartedly supports efforts to delete mediation and arbitration and allow direct appeal to a court master.

Barr said 21st Century was contracted to defend the values before court. He said he has evidence that low-ball appraisals have been accepted at mediation.

“It’s not fair to other taxpayers of the county for their taxes to be higher because deals were made at mediation without full cross examination and defense of the values by both the taxpayers’ appraisers and the reassessment appraisers,” he said.

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