Property Reassessment

August 16, 2008

Hazleton: ‘Delay or reject’ reassessment

Council wants Luzerne County commissioners to consider delaying reassessment.

RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent

HAZLETON – City Council voted Thursday night for a resolution to formally request Luzerne County commissioners to “delay or reject” property reassessment.

Council unanimously adopted the resolution, stating that if after all appeals are completed and not satisfactorily resolved, the reassessments should not be implemented in 2009.

The issue came to the forefront at a July 15 meeting where more than 120 residents pleaded with council to do something to help them with their reassessment problems, according to council President Joe Yannuzzi. Several residents were dissatisfied with the appeal decisions and made claims that the representatives from 21st Century Appraisers were rude.

The majority of complaints consisted of constituents saying their properties were over assessed, resulting in significant tax increases, the resolution reads.

Vice president Jack Mundie has opposed the reassessment based on his assertion that appraisers from outside the Hazleton area did not really understand local property values. He recommended the reassessment be done by a local firm.

Antonio Rodriguez, a city resident, asked if the resolution could cause legal troubles for the county resulting in lawsuits and more costs for taxpayers. The county paid $8 million to 21st Century Appraisers already, Rodriguez said, adding that money should not be wasted.

City council will make sure to follow up with Luzerne County for a response, Mundie said.

In other business, Mayor Lou Barletta was awarded Pennsylvania’s Mayor of the Year by the Pennsylvania State Mayors Association. Russell Pettyjohn, from Lititz, Lancaster County and chairman of the election committee, said Barletta topped 14 other candidates in the state.

A secret ballot came back with a unanimous vote for Barletta, Pettyjohn said. In other action, council listened to the presentation from a Dauphin County-based developer about revitalizing brownfields at the intersection of Routes 309 and 424. Jeffery Thomas, of First Industrial Realty, said his company plans to turn the blighted property into a functioning manufacturing and distribution site.

Thomas asked council to consider providing local economic revitalization tax assistance status to the property to make it marketable to prospective occupants.

If the LERTA is granted, the property could result in 500 new jobs and up to $250,000 in tax revenues for the city, Thomas said.

Council will evaluate the request.

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