Property Reassessment

August 15, 2008

Skrepenak calls for indefinte reassessment delay

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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WILKES-BARRE - Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak at a 2 p.m. press conference said he will call for a vote to indefinitely delay reassessment at next week's commissioner's meeting.

Skrepenak questioned the data collection of 21st Century Appraisals - the company the county is paying $8 million to conduct the first reassessment since 1965.

He said his office has received reports of data collectors rushing through data collection to achieve bonuses and said if anyone comes forward with information, the county will investigate it.

"If no one comes forward, our hands are tied," Skrepenak said.

An investigation of data collection was one of the parts in what the commissioner called "The Skrepenak Action Plan," which he said he developed over the last several weeks. It entails stopping the implementation of the reassessment, but continuing the appeals process with extended deadlines so appraisers have time to complete appraisers that taxpayers can use as evidence at assessment appeal hearings.

Skrepenak said taxpayers should continue observing deadlines for informal reviews and appeal hearings as if reassessment will continue. He would need the support of one other commissioner at Wednesday's meeting to have the implementation of reassessment halted, and while Chairowman Maryanne Petrilla has said the county should consider a 30-day extension, neither she nor Commissioner Steve Urban have endorsed halting implementation of new assessed values for 2009.

Skrepenak's plan also entails pushing state legislators to adopt tax reform. He suggested options of a county sales tax, a personal tax and income tax - or a combination of those taxes - to reduce or eliminate property taxes.

Skrepenak's plan also includes suggestions for increasing county revenue, possibly through the creation of a Gas Exploration Task Force, forming an energy-purchasing consortium with other government agencies, and reducing the use of paper in county offices by switching to the digital recording of information whenever possible.

Read the complete story in Saturday's Times Leader.

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

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