Reassessment Task Force Meets

Two task forces created under legislation adopted by the House held a joint inaugural meeting last week to discuss Pennsylvania’s flawed system of conducting property reassessments.

The legislation was authored by state Reps. , D-Cecil, and , D-North Strabane.

White and Neuman were appointed by House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody to serve as the legislative appointees on the panels.  

White's task force is charged with developing a set of uniform standards for county reassessment contracting; developing standards for disclosing the county's system of property valuation and assessment; developing a self-evaluation tool for counties to determine when a reassessment is warranted; and recommending a standard to be used for a statewide mandatory reassessment timeframe.

Neuman's task force is charged with developing new procedures for collection and verification of reassessment data to ensure it is representative of the county's property inventory.

This was the first of several joint meetings before the task forces report their findings to the Legislature—which must happen within six months. 

"The squeaky wheel of reassessment is getting its grease, and much-needed changes to the broken system are coming," White said. "While Washington County has been the most recent battleground in the reassessment fight, all counties dealing with the flaws and inequities of this system stand to benefit from the task forces efforts."

Neuman said when it comes to his task force: So far, so good.

“The first task force meeting was productive and put some great ideas on the table," he said. "I look forward to continue serving my constituents on this important panel to ensure that the reassessment process is fair for counties and taxpayers who stand to see huge tax increases if reassessments are continued to be conducted in a flawed manner."

For the past year, White and Neuman have been working to overhaul the reassessment system in Pennsylvania and are vocal opponents of the $8 million countywide property reassessment scheduled for Washington County. 

Washington County is under a court order to conduct a reassessment because of lawsuits filed by the McGuffey and Washington school districts. County commissioners argue that the reassessment should not take place until the Legislature makes changes to correct flaws in the reassessment process. 

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