Property Reassessment

June 30, 2009

Reassess case brings legal clash

Whether county must pay 21st Century to defend in challenge is disputed.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
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The company hired to reassess Luzerne County property values had argued in court that the county has a contractual obligation to pay the company to manage and defend the county against Hanover Township resident Vic Kopko’s property assessment court challenge.

Not so, the county’s newly hired outside counsel argues in a fresh batch of court filings.

Lawyers from Elliott Greenleaf & Dean said 21st Century’s contract does not require the county to pay the reassessment company to defend assessment appeals before the Court of Common Pleas.

Instead, the law firm points to part of the contract that said 21st Century shall be paid to support, defend and explain values, with emphasis on the word values. That’s not a mandate, the law firm says, because the contract also states the county has the right to hire a third-party appraiser for defense of values at the court level.

21st Century’s lawyer, Michael D. Yelen, filed recent paperwork urging the court to hold off on any decisions in the Kopko matter until an Aug. 3 hearing on the company’s request to intervene in Kopko’s mediation.

That hearing will deal with “what is apparently a disagreement” between the county and 21st Century over the company’s role in defending appeals, he wrote.

“It should first be decided who will defend the appeal, before it is decided how to defend the appeal,” Yelen wrote.

In its request to intervene, 21st Century said its original and amended contracts with the county required the county to pay the company to defend court-level challenges, including the mediation step added by judges last year. The county appeal board’s decision to keep the company out of the process was putting the county at risk of a breach-of-contract lawsuit, 21st Century said.

The company also challenged the court’s authority to add the mediation step and alleged that mediation reductions will lead to “unconstitutional systematic undervaluation” of property assessments.

In its response, Elliott Greenleaf & Dean denied that mediation has resulted in “compromised values” without proper factual support, as alleged by 21st Century.

The court has authority to implement mediation because rules about handling tax assessment appeals are “left to the discretion” of county judges, the law firm said.

Hanover Area School District has also filed a brief opposing 21st Century’s attempt to intervene, saying contractual disputes should be handled in a separate legal proceeding that probably should have been filed “long ago.”

Judge Hugh Mundy will rule on 21st Century’s requests to intervene and freeze Kopko’s mediation until the Aug. 3 hearing. Kopko is also seeking Mundy’s approval to perform discovery as part of his mediation challenge.

Kopko said Monday he will keep his promise to file a full-blown lawsuit challenging the reassessment.

“Judge Mundy has put a stay on any more filings until this matter is resolved. As soon as the stay is lifted, we will file an actual lawsuit to throw out reassessment on numerous grounds,” Kopko said.

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