Constituents Weigh in on Reassessment, Fontana Discusses Results

Last week, I asked for your thoughts on three alternatives I proposed to the current property assessment system. Thank you to everyone that weighed in with their opinions. The majority of respondents believe the best choice is to eliminate property taxes and allow local governments and school districts to shift to a sales and/or income tax. While I believe this alternative is better than the current system, of the three options I presented, this would be the most difficult to achieve. 

First, elected officials in counties where reassessments are not an issue would be hesitant to support a tax shift. Even if support existed for this tax shift among a majority of the General Assembly, creating a statewide system where we shift property taxes to a sales or income tax would require an amendment to the state constitution. The proposed amendment would need to pass both chambers of the General Assembly by a majority vote in two consecutive legislative sessions. After the first passage of the bill, it must be published in two newspapers, three months before an election. If the bill passes the second session, it would be published again before being placed on the ballot in the form of a statewide referendum. If passed by the majority of voters, it then becomes an amendment to the constitution.

The second choice among respondents was to switch to a model that taxes property based on square footage. Under this system, each taxing body would determine the total square footage of all taxable property within its jurisdiction and divide that number into total real estate tax collections for the previous year to establish a rate per square foot. The amount of taxes per property owner would be determined by the combined size of the lot and home or building. This would eliminate the assessment process.

The need for a statewide solution to reassessments is obvious and the square footage model is a workable solution, but unfortunately, the Governor and Republican leadership have not indicated they support any statewide solution. They represent the majority party in Harrisburg and control the agenda. As the General Assembly reconvenes in Harrisburg this week, I will be speaking with my colleagues about the issue of property reassessments so we can begin charting a course on how best to move forward so we can solve this problem once and for all.

Update on Allegheny County Reassessments

Last Thursday, Judge R. Stanton Wettick, Jr. approved requests to delay the use of reassessed property values until 2013. This means if you are a property owner in Allegheny County, your 2012 property taxes will again be based on 2002 assessed values. I wrote Judge Wettick last week and respectfully asked him to delay implementation of the reassessed values and am thankful for his decision. 

Any city of Pittsburgh or Mt. Oliver property owner that wishes to appeal their reassessed property values can still do so. The new, court-ordered deadline to request a formal appeal of 2012 reassessed property values is Feb. 24. You can print a request form from the Allegheny County website or call 412-350-4600 to schedule your formal appeal.

The Court has not indicated if any appeals on the 2012 reassessed values will be heard in the future, so if you wish to appeal your 2012 reassessed values, you should file your appeal by Feb. 24.  You can also appeal your 2002 base year assessment, and have until April 2 to file that appeal.

Property owners in the rest of the county should begin receiving their reassessed values in the near future. The deadline to file formal appeals for property owners that do not reside in the city of Pittsburgh or Mt. Oliver has not yet been announced. The Court has also not ruled on whether informal appeals will be heard again and has not ruled on the status of those informal appeals that have already been heard. I will share information with you on these matters once they are announced.

If you need assistance with filing an appeal, or need assistance with any other state issue, my staff is always ready, willing and able to assist you.