Property Reassessment

January 3, 2009

Assessment mediation working for some owners

First wave of homeowners had assessments collectively reduced by $538,900.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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Mediation appears to be fruitful for the first wave of Luzerne County property owners who challenged their assessed values to court, records show.

To date, the county has agreed to knock off a total $538,900 in assessed value in the first 16 mediation settlements.

No unsuccessful mediations have been recorded, though county officials have stressed that settlements won’t be reached in all cases.

The largest mediation reduction granted to date was $114,500 for a three-bedroom, one-story 1947 Harveys Lake home owned by Windsor and Meryl Davis.

The 0.39-acre Lakeside Drive property, which includes a small boathouse and dock, was originally valued at $545,300 by reassessment company 21st Century Appraisals Inc.

A county appeals board reduced the value to $494,500, and mediation brought the value down to $380,000.

Meryl Davis said she accepted the settlement because the total is about the same as her appraised value, though she believes the split between the land and structure values is still off. The land portion is now valued at $216,300.

“The land value is still way over and above what it should be for the size of the property,” Davis said.

Davis said she did not have to appear for a mediation conference because she negotiated directly with county appeals board solicitor David Schwager. Schwager has said he would try to personally contact property owners to initiate settlement, when possible.

“I was very, very pleased with how helpful Mr. Schwager was,” Davis said. “This last phase was the only time I felt like I was getting anywhere.”

As of Friday afternoon, more than 1,000 property owners had filed for mediation to contest their county assessment appeal board rulings.

Court officials expect to process 20 to 40 mediation cases per week, which means it could take anywhere from 25 to 50 weeks to process those already filed.

Property owners must file for mediation within 30 days of the date of their formal assessment appeal board rulings. The last round of county appeal board rulings is set to be mailed on Monday, which means those property owners will have until Feb. 4 to seek mediation.

Mediation settlements must be accepted by both the property owner and Schwager, with Specialty Courts Director Sam Guesto presiding over the process. Guesto started publicly filing settlement reports on Dec. 8.

Here are some examples of the most recent mediation settlements:

• A 0.28-acre vacant parcel on Bear Run Drive in Butler Township was originally valued at $22,400 and remained unchanged after a formal assessment appeal. The value was reduced to $18,000 at mediation.

• A 2004 home with a stone fa�ade and 4,510 square feet of living space on Wakefield Drive in Kingston Township was originally valued at $656,300 – $601,900 for the home and $54,400 for the 0.55 acre. A county assessment appeal board reduced the total to $529,600 by lowering the value of the home, but not the land. The assessment was reduced to $480,000 at mediation by further cutting the structure value, keeping the land value the same.

• A 1940s, three-bedroom brick home on North Dawes Avenue in Kingston was originally valued at $193,700 – $24,400 for the 0.11-acre parcel and $169,300 for the building. A county appeal board kept the land the same but reduced the house value, for a new total of $189,200. The value was cut to $165,000 at mediation by lowering the house to $140,600 but keeping the land the same.

• A 2.5-story, 1940s apartment house on South Wyoming Street in Hazleton was originally valued at $179,200 – $42,300 for the 0.13 acres and $136,900 for the building. A county appeal board lowered the value to $145,700 by reducing the building value but not the land. Mediation resulted in a new value of $110,000 through another building value reduction.

Final mailing

The final batch of 4,156 appeal board rulings will be mailed Monday, according to county officials. These property owners will have 30 days to appeal the decisions to court.

Another 1,037 value changes will be mailed as a result of ongoing maintenance. These property owners will have 40 days to challenge their values before the county assessment appeal board.

The mailing will also include 3,235 value adjustments stemming from informal reviews and other miscellaneous revisions. These property owners won’t have the opportunity to appeal.

All newly mailed values have been loaded onto the reassessment company’s on-line property database ( www.courthouseonline.com) by Monday.

Monday’s mailing will be the last connected with the reassessment, so any property owners who don’t receive notices and believe they should have must contact the assessor’s office at 825-1869.

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

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