Property Reassessment

OVERSIGHT? Spec home built by county Board of Assessment Appeals member wasn’t being taxed

June 24, 2009

Official’s house left off tax rolls

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

The Luzerne County Assessor’s Office has failed to fully value and tax a Rice Township residential property that’s on the market for an asking price of $649,000.

The home was built by A2 Spec Homes LLC. Angelo Terrana is the company’s president, according to state corporation records. Terrana sits on the county Board of Assessment Appeals, which oversees the assessor’s office.

The 3.4 acres on Ice Harvest Drive had been assessed at $130,700, but the county never assigned a value to the 3,914-square-foot brick house because it was a developer “spec home” that wasn’t occupied or sold.

The law says spec homes, which are homes built without first having a contracted buyer, can’t be valued within 30 months unless they are sold or become occupied.

That clock started when the county received a building permit for the structure in June 2006, county officials have said, which means the house should have been added to the rolls at the end of 2008.

County Assessment Director Tony Alu checked into the matter Tuesday and instructed his staff to immediately value the home so it might be put on the tax rolls. Alu said the valuation was behind schedule because he’s short on staff until three new field investigators complete training.

Alu said the delay has absolutely nothing to do with Terrana being his boss.

Terrana could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said all spec homes should be instantly valued and taxed when the 30 months expire.

“There should be no excuses, none at all,” Urban said.

County prothonotary candidate Carolee Medico Olenginski said the oversight is “totally inexcusable” because she pointed out the house had not been assigned a value last September in e-mails to Alu and other county officials. She said she stumbled on the property while researching the value of her property.

“This home is six months overdue. Every day it is overlooked, tax dollars are lost, and the county cannot afford that,” she said.

Medico Olenginski said she knows of other spec homes that have been put on the rolls after the 30 months, saying one contractor put his residence on the market because he’s struggling to shoulder the taxes on his unsold spec homes.

Alu said he welcomes reminders, noting that the addition of more than $44 million in property to the tax rolls since January is evidence that he and his staff are working to stay on top of new and missed construction.

However, Medico Olenginski said the public’s efforts to research property have been hampered by the county’s decision to end free public access to the reassessment company’s online property database.

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

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