Property Reassessment

County reassessment

July 11, 2009

School property tax bills coming

Districts were legally limited to 10 percent increases in this first year after reassessment.

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

The most significant pocketbook impact of Luzerne County’s reassessment – pleasant or not -- will be felt in coming weeks as school property tax bills arrive in the mail.

School taxes make up about two-thirds of the total property bill.

County residents who live in the Berwick Area School District have already received their school tax bills, and the rest will arrive by Aug. 4, according to the county.

School districts were legally limited to 10 percent revenue increases in this first year after reassessment, but there was no cap on how much individual bills may go up or down.

Reassessment shuffled around the tax burden, meaning each property is picking up a bigger, smaller or about the same share.

The new school millage rates range from 7.8011 mills in the Lake-Lehman School District to 15.5892 mills in Hanover Area School District.

Here are the other new school millage rates: Berwick Area, 9.9; Crestwood, 8.5145; Dallas, 10.6498; Greater Nanticoke Area, 9.9295; Hazleton Area, 8.698; Northwest Area, 8.8012; Pittston Area, 12.3212; Wilkes-Barre Area, 14.8319; Wyoming Area, 11.8963; and Wyoming Valley West, 12.4.

To figure out tax bills, property owners must multiply their total assessed value by the millage rate and then divide by 1,000.

For example, the owner of a property assessed at $150,000 would pay $2,225 in school taxes in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. That bill would jump to $7,416 for a $500,000 property.

About 87,000 county property owners will receive gambling-funded school property tax breaks ranging from $53 in the Dallas School District to $210 in Wilkes-Barre Area.

Those property owners signed up for the county’s homestead exclusion. School tax bills should show the break deducted from the total amount owed.

County Assessment Office Director Tony Alu issued a reminder that property owners with pending court-level assessment mediation challenges will still be expected to pay their 2009 tax bills based on the assessment that they are contesting.

An overpayment refund will be issued if property owners obtain reductions down the road.

Property owners save 2 percent on their tax bills if they pay within 60 days. Taxes must be paid by Dec. 31 to avoid additional charges.

About 2,000 property owners have signed up for mediation because they filed court paperwork challenging values awarded by a county assessment appeal board.

As of Friday, about 500 mediations had been settled, according to the county Prothonotary’s Office.

Alu said it will likely take a year or more to process the remaining 1,500 mediations. The court is handling the scheduling.

He said his office has been inundated with calls from property owners who are antsy waiting for their cases to be heard, and he expects an increase in calls with the arrival of school tax bills.

“I’m getting at least five or six calls a day,” he said.

Court officials have said they are processing mediation cases as quickly as possible.

Property owners who are dissatisfied with their assessments may file challenges every year. Sept. 1 is the deadline to appeal taxes for 2010, and roughly 2,000 property owners have filed, Alu said.

These property owners will also have the right to appeal to court if they disagree with the county assessment appeal board ruling.

County President Judge Chester Muroski said judges have not decided if the 2010 appeals will go through mediation or revert back to an old system of appearing before a judge.

Tweet	Follow @TLnews

Send Question or Remark to the Publisher