Property Reassessment

March 30, 2009

Property owners may sue

Meeting set for Monday night to see if others in county want to join in legal action over reassessment.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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Some Harveys Lake and Back Mountain property owners will definitely pursue legal action over Luzerne County’s reassessment, but they have scheduled a meeting for Monday night to see if residents in other parts of the county want to join them in a suit, property owner Michelle Boice said Friday.

“We think we have enough evidence for a case of our own, but we want to see how much interest there is for a countywide effort,” Boice said.

The meeting, sponsored by the newly formed Residents of Luzerne County United organization, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday in the Wilkes-Barre Township fire hall. The location was chosen because organizers wanted to make it more central for all parts of the county, Boice said.

Turning to litigation was a last resort because both sides will incur legal fees, Boice said.

“We’ve done everything to try to get a one-year delay – protests, letter-writing campaigns, meetings – and now it’s time to turn it over to the lawyers,” she said. “We’re out of ideas, except for lawsuits.”

Boice said five legal experts are slated to attend Monday’s meeting, including two volunteers with law degrees who are not currently practicing law. One of the volunteers is Edie Brous, a Kingston Township property owner who questioned the logic of her new assessed value during last month’s commissioners’ meeting.

Boice said she does not know the identity of all the lawyers but believes one will be Philadelphia area attorney Sam Stretton.

Stretton could not be reached for comment Friday but said recently he was assembling a team of lawyers and planned to be “moving soon” on reassessment litigation.

The Wetzel, Caverly, Shea, Phillips & Rodgers law firm in Wilkes-Barre is also separately pursuing a suit, said attorney Bruce Phillips.

“We are working with existing clients and existing cases. The suit may be filed in both federal and state court,” Phillips said. Those clients include Hanover Township property owner Vic Kopko.

Phillips said his firm is working solo, focusing primarily on issues involving lack of due process.

Ashley property owner Greg Zawatski said he will attend Monday’s meeting and get involved in the suit because he believes his value is inaccurate. He missed his formal appeal deadline because his computer crashed from a virus around the time the application was due.

Zawatski said he bought two double-block homes in the borough for a total $97,700 in 2003, and the new assessed value of both buildings combined is $186,700. Zawatski said his taxes are projected to double, from $2,000 to $4,000 per year, which will force him to raise rents for three tenants.

Kingston Township property owner Audrey Simpson said she will be one of the plaintiffs in the suit. She said she has an appraisal from 2006 indicating that her home is worth $155,000, and her new assessed value came in at $246,000. She went through a formal appeal and is awaiting her results. Even if she obtains a reduction, Simpson said she believes there were too many mistakes in data collection and the condition/quality/age rankings of homes.

Tim Barr, of the county’s reassessment company 21st Century Appraisals Inc., has said that courts have been “reluctant to interfere” in ongoing reassessments unless taxpayers have exhausted due-process options set up in the law, such as formal appeals and action in the county Court of Common Pleas.

Barr has also said errors are part of any reassessments, and the county’s reassessment policies and procedures were based on long-standing laws.

The county’s independent outside consultant – the International Association of Assessing Officers – has also watched over the process to ensure it met international standards, he said.

More information

Clean and Green

To obtain more information on Monday’s meeting, contact Dorothy Spencer at 779-1253. The Residents of Luzerne County United organization has set up a Web site at www.rolcu.com.

Luzerne County property owners who still have questions or concerns about the Clean and Green tax-break program may attend an informational meeting on the program at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Luzerne County Community College Conference Center in Nanticoke.

The Penn State Cooperative Extension is sponsoring the meeting, in cooperation with the county assessor’s office. Program leaders will answer questions and explain the application process and categories of land that qualify for the program.

For more information, contact the Cooperative Extension at 825-1701, 602-0600 or 1-888-825-1701.

The owners of roughly 1,120 parcels have signed up for the program since the county’s new assessed values started hitting the mail in May.

This number seems high because only 185 properties had been in the program before reassessment, but county officials note that another estimated 6,500 eligible parcels are still out there.

Oct. 15 is the final application deadline for property owners who want the tax break in 2009.

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

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