Local Legislators Appointed to Statewide Property Tax Reassessment Panels

State Reps. and have been appointed by House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody to serve on statewide reassessment task forces aimed at fixing Pennsylvania’s system of conducting property reassessments.

For the past year, and are vocal opponents of the court-ordered $8 million county-wide property reassessment in Washington County. 

"Jesse White and Brandon Neuman recognize major problems with Pennsylvania’s fragmented system of reassessment. There is a lack of uniform standards, methods vary from county to county, and property data collection is inconsistent," Dermody said in a statement.

Neuman will serve on a task force created under his legislation—H.R. 344—adopted by the House in June. The group will develop new procedures for collection and verification of reassessment data to ensure it is representative of the county's property inventory.

White will serve on a task force created under his H.R. 343, which the House also adopted in June. That group will develop a set of uniform standards for county reassessment contracting; develop standards for disclosing the county's system of property valuation and assessment; develop a self-evaluation tool for counties to determine when a reassessment is warranted; and recommend a standard to be used for a statewide mandatory reassessment time frame.

Both groups will report their findings to the Legislature in six months.

"Not only are reassessments extremely expensive, but we're spending millions of dollars to collect data that we know is highly unreliable and inaccurate," said Neuman, D-North Strabane. "I think most people would agree that if you’re going to do something, do it right, especially when it could increase taxes for homeowners and businesses. Washington County has been the primary battle ground for property reassessment reform in Pennsylvania, so I am pleased to have the opportunity to represent my constituents on this task force."

White agreed.

"Despite McGuffey and Washington School Districts’ steadfast refusal to work with us on a reasonable solution, I’m hopeful these task forces will offer recommendations that we can implement and save taxpayer dollars," said White, D-Cecil, said. "It’s not too late for the school districts to drop the lawsuit and stop wasting our tax dollars, but with or without them

Washington County is under a court order to conduct a property reassessment as the result of lawsuits filed by the McGuffey and Washington school districts. The commissioners argue that the reassessment should not take place until the Legislature makes changes to correct flaws in the reassessment process, which are anticipated in the coming months, a statement indicated.

White and Neuman have also authored several other reassessment reform and moratorium bills, which are still pending in the Legislature.