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Mayor said he won’t make that call until he is certain that the city won’t lose revenues with the switch.
WILKES-BARRE — Mayor Tom Leighton said Friday he will eventually recommend that council adopt Luzerne County’s property assessment figures, but he won’t make that call until he is certain that the city won’t lose any revenues with the switch.
Leighton said the key is whether the majority of assessment appeals have been heard and decided by the time the city has its budget finalized.
The mayor said the city’s 2010 budget must be available for public reading by Oct. 15. Assessment appeals could continue until the end of the year, he said.
“Once we are confident that the majority of appeals have been heard, then we will recommend using the county’s assessment figures,” Leighton said. “I realize we could adjust our millage rate, but the key is when. We’re pretty good at estimating our expenditures, but our concern is that our revenue doesn’t get cut significantly via the appeals process.”
The city’s 2009 budget is $41 million and the millage rate is 96.53. A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 in assessed property value. The city’s total assessed value is around $85 million, Leighton said.
“Millage could go up or down and the amount of taxes could remain virtually the same,” Leighton said.
He said he and his administrative staff are reviewing last year’s assessment and comparing it to this year’s figures.
“We are looking it over to assure there are no shortages,” he said. “We have to be comfortable that the assessment is in line with current property values.”
Leighton said he expects one third of the city’s assessments to go down and one third to increase. He said those that are lowered will not be appealed. He said most of the increased assessments will be appealed, leaving the tax amount uncertain.
“That’s our concern,” Leighton said. “We don’t have the luxury of waiting until the end of year. We need to make an informed decision.”
“We have to have a comfort level that at the end of 2009 and heading into 2010 the total assessed values of all taxable city properties will be close to what our total city assessment is currently. Then we can adjust the millage accordingly,” he said.