Property Reassessment

County courthouse

August 18, 2008

Reassess protest scheduled

Bus loads from Harveys Lake expected. Organizer urges all citizens to attend.

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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At least two bus loads of people from Harveys Lake are expected to show up at the Luzerne County Courthouse today to protest the way that the county reassessment is being executed.

Harveys Lake resident Michelle Boice, a Realtor who helped organize the protest to coincide with the commissioners’ work session at 1 p.m., said she partially will honor the request of county Director of Communications Jason Jarecki to hold off voicing opinions on reassessment until the commissioners’ regular meeting Wednesday.

The regular meeting will be at Luzerne County Community College’s Educational Conference Center because such a large number of people is expected to speak about reassessment during public comment, and the commissioners’ meeting room at the courthouse is relatively small.

Boice said the group from Harveys Lake will send one representative – former Congressman Jim Nelligan – to the work session to gather information and relay it to the group after the meeting. But the group will make its opinions known today by carrying protest signs and possibly chanting outside the courthouse during the work session.

“We just want to be there to show our concern. If (the commissioners) vote on Wednesday, we’d like them to vote with us and not against us,” Boice said.

Commissioner Greg Skrepenak announced on Friday that he planned to make a motion at Wednesday’s meeting to indefinitely halt the implementation of reassessment.

Commissioners Steve Urban and Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla indicated they were not ready to vote for an indefinite delay, but they might seek a 30-day extension on reassessment deadlines from the county Court of Common Pleas.

Unless an extension is granted, all appeals must be heard by Oct. 31 and the Board of Assessment Appeals must certify the new values by Nov. 15 for them to take effect in 2009.

Urban and Petrilla want property owners who believe they were overassessed to go through the legal process in place to have property values corrected.

But Boice contends the existing correction process is unfair and/or being abused by those conducting it.

Boice gave an example of a Harveys Lake couple who purchased their home in 2007 for $120,000 after a bidding war with another interested buyer and saw 21st Century Appraisals – the company conducting Luzerne County’s reassessment – value the home at $226,000.

A 21st Century employee reduced the home’s value by $6,000 at an informal review and told the couple that any further reductions would have to be done at an appeals hearing, Boice said.

“If the system was fair, that situation would have been rectified at the informal (review),” Boice said.

Boice had her own review in July to have errors corrected on her property, which 21st Century claimed was lakefront property on level ground and had five fireplaces.

Although she was armed with photographs showing 21st Century was wrong on those three accounts, she says she was told the reassessment company’s certified Pennsylvania evaluator was “not comfortable” adjusting her land value, and was advised to file a formal appeal.

21st Century had valued her half-acre at $396,000, bringing her total assessment to $607,000. 21st Century representative Tim Barr said informal reviews are designed to correct errors, and he did not know why Boice’s parcel classification as “lake frontage” was not changed.

Boice said people should not have to pay $300 or more for certified appraisals and take a second day off from work to have 21st Century’s mistakes corrected by an appeals board.

She doesn’t think data collectors were properly trained, and she points to Barr’s refusal to provide her with the names of the data collectors 21st Century hired so the collectors could be interviewed about the extent of their training.

Boice appealed to residents throughout the county to show their support for halting reassessment even if they received reductions.

“For those people who were lucky enough to get their taxes dropped, hallelujah. But they have no idea of the frustration and unfairness we’re dealing with. We have been following the system, but we’re not being treated fairly,” Boice said.

Boice urged people who live in towns other than Harveys Lake and who plan to attend the rally to bring signs indicating which town they live in.

She also suggested that those who can’t find a place to park should drive by the courthouse a few times honking their horns to show support for the protesters.

There are parking garages across the street from the courthouse – on Water Street and on North River Street – if courthouse lots are full.

IF YOU GO

WHAT’S NEXT

An anti-reassessment rally coincides with the commissioners’ work session at 1 p.m. today at the Luzerne County Courthouse, 200 N. River St., Wilkes-Barre.

The Luzerne County Commissioners’ next regular meeting is at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Luzerne County Community College Educational Conference Center, 133 S. Prospect St., Nanticoke. Commissioner Greg Skrepenak plans to call for a vote to stop implementation of new assessed values for 2009.

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 459-2005.

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