Property Reassessment

REASSESSMENT

November 8, 2008

Mediation step now added to appeal

Court rep said step added to help property owners save fees by avoiding arbitration.

A third mandatory mediation step was officially added to Luzerne County’s assessment appeal court challenges Friday, and Sam Guesto will serve as the mediator.

Though a court representative had said the step was added to try to help property owners save fees by avoiding the next step – arbitration -- the prothonotary’s office stressed Friday that the $111.75 filing fee is still required.

Another $51 arbitration fee won’t have to be paid unless property owners opt to advance to arbitration.

Guesto, who is specialty courts/alternative sentencing director, said the prothonotary and county commissioners may decide to reimburse the $111.75 if property owners and the county appeals board reach a settlement during mediation.

Prothontary Jill Moran said commissioners would control whether the fee is reimbursed, and commissioners only control $96.25 of the fee because the rest is automatically turned over to the state.

Jackson Township property owner Ed Chesnovitch was already annoyed with the addition of an arbitration panel and special master steps because he believes assessment court challenges should go straight to a county judge. Taxpayers are supposed to have the legal right to present their cases fresh, known legally as de novo, before a judge, he said.

“They’re putting in a useless step, and it is not free for the taxpayers,” Chesnovitch said.

Court officials have argued that challenges will be heard faster with the additional steps because judges are too busy and would have to squeeze them in, but Chesnovitch envisions longer waits with the new steps.

Property owners must pay taxes on their new assessed values in 2009 and can’t be reimbursed for taxes on reduced assessments until and unless the court reduces the values.

“It just prolongs the agony,” Chesnovitch said.

Exeter Township property owner Bill James said he will fight to skip the additional steps and go straight before a judge if he has to appeal his county assessment ruling to court because he doesn’t think county employees should be handling court-level challenges. Employees may have a conflict of interest – real or perceived – to push for action in the county’s favor, while judges are elected and paid by the state, he said.

In addition to Guesto, a special master employed by the county would hear court challenges that are contested after the arbitration phase.

Before reassessment, court-level challenges went to a judge.

“I think these challenges should go right before a judge, whether the judges like it or not,” James said.

Luzerne County minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said he has concerns about Guesto presiding over mediation.

“I wouldn’t want a county worker to hear my reassessment challenge. I wouldn’t want anybody but an outside attorney or court to do it,” Urban said.

Guesto said he would be impartial, and emphasized that both the property owner and appeals board would have to sign off on any changes made in mediation.

He compared mandatory mediation to “conflict resolution.” Guesto said he has experience getting two sides to hammer out solutions from his past job as county chief clerk/manager, including his work overseeing a panel convened a few years ago to determine the appropriate size of a county nursing home.

Urban questioned whether Guesto’s workload is too light if he is able to take on mediation, which is not required by the state. County commissioners are trying to close a $33 million gap between spending and revenue next year, and Guesto’s position has been cited by Urban and others as non-essential.

Guesto said overseeing court-level assessment challenges is part of his job duties, and he is willing to work nights or weekends holding mediation if he is requested to do so by Court of Common Pleas President Judge Mark Ciavarella.

He said he is still busy with other parts of his job working on the drug treatment court, starting a new mental health court and coordinating efforts to implement alternative sentencing plans that would keep offenders out of the overcrowded prison.

Guesto said the mediation could provide a “pretty substantial” savings to the county because each case settled without arbitration will save the county $375 in pay to lawyers who sit on an arbitration panel.

The new mediation step takes effect in 30 days. Guesto and other county officials said property owners must pay attention to their 30-day deadline to file court appeals on their formal assessment appeal board rulings.

Estimates on the number of court assessment challenges have ranged from several hundred to 5,000.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.

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