Assessment values should be certified after appeal period
"Everything old is new again." Like the refrain from the song, history repeats itself in Allegheny County. Yet the whole property reassessment fiasco could have been avoided by just following the state laws that were enacted in 1933.
Our state Legislature, wisely, in 1933 mandated the procedure for all counties to follow for certification of the numbers. Last year, the statute was violated because the accuracy of the numbers was not certified. By the time this came to the attention of the court, the budgets for all the municipalities and school districts had already been set and the tax bills had been mailed. The court permitted the numbers to stand, with the proviso that they would be corrected this year.
Now this year, in violation of the same statutes from 1933, the county did not make the numbers available for public comment prior to certification. If the public had received the numbers before certification, as required, then the county would have learned of the serious error that was committed of not using the data collected at the 50,000 appeals, heard last year, for the 2002 values. Also, the county would have learned that there were still problems with the 2002 numbers caused by the new "valuation models" in some areas of the county.
Last year, hearing the 50,000 appeals cost the taxpayers nearly $1.5 million. There remain 35,000 appeals from last year, plus there is a very good chance that there are going to be another 50,000 appeals, because of errors with the 2002 numbers, on top of the 27,000 who have to appeal again, even though they won last year. This may cost the taxpayers $2 million to hear the appeals, which again will take two years. This does not include the personal cost to each taxpayer both financially and emotionally.
However, we should not throw out the baby with the bath water. A large portion of the numbers have been improved from 2001. Those numbers should be used, but we should have confidence in all of the numbers. Thus, it is strongly urged that we hold off on the 2002 numbers until 2003. This will provide the opportunity to allow the public to comment and for the county to correct the errors, prior to implementation next January.
Then, starting in 2003, we should follow another 1933 statute and assess every three years. "Everything old is new again"!
KENNETH R. BEHREND
O'Hara
Editor's note: The writer, a lawyer, served on the Allegheny County Board of Property Assessment, Appeals and Review from 1996 through 2000.
Same old same old
Why is it that the same suspects -- county Controller Dan Onorato, city Councilman Bob O'Connor and city Controller Tom Flaherty -- who complained so stridently about last year's Sabre Systems assessment now want to decertify the 2002 assessment values and use those very same Sabre values this year? How is it that these three showboats who never saw a tax hike that they didn't like all of a sudden become defenders of the taxpayers? Why didn't they protest Judge R. Stanton Wettick's decision a few years ago, mandating annual assessments in Allegheny County, as loudly?
And why didn't they object all those years when county assessments were totally unfair because those who hadn't sold their property in 30 years were paying incredibly low taxes while those who purchased property more recently were paying through the nose? And why aren't these three geniuses calling for a long-term solution of the problem like an increased sales or wage tax to completely replace unfair property taxes?
According to Onorato in a radio interview, the Allegheny County assessment is the largest assessment ever done in the entire world. If that is the case, then there are bound to be problems and mistakes. So instead of working so hard to make Jim Roddey look bad, why don't they try to cooperate to solve the problems which they and their Democratic machine predecessors caused in the first place by failing to deal with an unfair tax system?
At least county Chief Executive Jim Roddey has honestly tried to solve this decades-old problem. Anyone can stand on the sidelines and criticize.
How long are the voters of Allegheny County going to tolerate corrupt political opportunists like Onorato, O'Connor, and Flaherty who are always quick to jump on a popular bandwagon to advance their political careers while hoodwinking the taxpayers one more time? It's not a coincidence that from that trio will come Roddey's opponent for county chief executive next year. How many more jobs and young people have to leave Allegheny County before we stop listening to such unscrupulous political hacks?
DAVE MAJERNIK
Plum
Call your local school
Soon school districts will be setting their budgets and adjusting millage for their district. Now is the time for all property owners to let their school board know exactly how they feel regarding the school budgets and millage. If we wait until they have met and made their decisions, it will be too late.
We need to let them hear our voices. Send letters, call them and, if at all possible, find out when the school board is meeting and go there to be heard. Phone numbers and names of the directors can be found at the municipal offices, business office of the schools and in the local libraries.
CHARLES JOBE
Shaler
What a mess
The increase in the assessed value of my residence -- shocking in its magnitude during a period of recession -- has left me amazed that the county still does not understand how to fix this age-old problem.
I see no evidence that supports the county's contention that the 2002 values are more correct than the 2001 values. It seems that both the county and Consad relied on statistical analysis to refute the values determined by Sabre Systems, which at least photographed and measured county properties, surveyed the property owners and attempted to make meaningful comparisons. The magnitude of Sabre Systems' task was bound to produce some errors; however, the process was doomed to failure from the start -- less from the efforts of Sabre Systems, but from the gross negligence of past county administrations. They failed the residents of Allegheny County by neglecting to value county properties in an orderly and timely fashion. Neither did some of the high-profile errors, such as Mayor Murphy's appeal adjudicated in public, help the process.
The popular sentiment of Allegheny County property owners seems to be that if the owner could get what the county thinks the property is worth, the owner would sell and move to a surrounding county. My sentiment is the same. Unless a more sensible approach is determined quickly -- which starts with decertifying the 2002 values and instituting a three-year reassessment system similar to Ohio and West Virginia -- I fear that there will be more appeals in 2002 than there were in 2001.
Much time and effort has been spent to determine how to make Allegheny County a more attractive place to live and work. The current assessment system does not help in that endeavor.
DONALD T. MENOVICH JR.
Upper St. Clair
Justice must prevail
I sit here fighting back tears, filled with heartfelt sorrow and overwhelming anger. I grew up with Parrish Freeman and I went to school with Tom Mitchell's older brother Eric, therefore I definitely feel a connection to the losses of life that our city saw on Jan. 25 ("1,300 Mourners Pay Respects," Jan. 31). I knew Parrish for over 25 years. I visited Gaines Funeral Home to pay my respects to him and his beautiful daughter, Taylor. At 33 years of age, I must admit that what I experienced was the most disheartening thing in my life.
A mother looking at her soulmate for nearly 20 years and the perfect daughter that they created -- both victims of senseless violence. Then I thought to myself, "Why?" Why would someone be so callous and ruthless as to open fire on these people? Then I started to think: "Are these killers among us right this moment?" It's these questions that I ponder now, and that keep me awake.
Whoever you are, and wherever you are, I pray that justice prevails, via the streets or the system. And I hope that for the rest of your lives, you will be constantly visited by Taylor's angelic face, to add misery to you for what you have done. No child, nor father, nor anyone else deserves what you have done. The pain you have caused is surreal, unable to be put into words. But I find solace in knowing that Taylor, Parrish and Tom are in a much better place than you are right now.
LOIS WEST-GRIFFITH
East Liberty
Inspired to serve
My daughter, a high school senior, was accepted on early decision to the college of her choice. She has, however, decided to defer admission until the fall of 2003. She instead has submitted her application to the AmeriCorps volunteer program.
Her actions were not inspired by President Bush's call to volunteerism in his State of the Union address of this past Tuesday, however. She was inspired, ironically, by the "controversial" school assembly held at Mt. Lebanon earlier this year by Dr. Patch Adams. His message of service, community, duty and selflessness spoke to her and has indeed sparked a new and meaningful direction in her life.
Thank you, Dr. Adams, for encouraging our youth to take a path less traveled. I'm sure the president wouldn't think that irresponsible at all!
MAUREEN DUMBAUGH
Mt. Lebanon
If I look like a security risk, we're in trouble
On Dec. 18, I took a US Airways flight from Pittsburgh to St. Louis. At the gate, I was asked to undergo a special security check.
First, I am a female. All the Sept. 11 hijackers were male.
Second, I am 73 years old. My photo ID was a Pennsylvania driver's license. This showed that I was born in 1928. I don't think that anyone born in the 1920s is really a security risk.
Third, I have two bad knees and have been walking with a cane.
I have to ask: Why me?
MILDRED BRUMFIELD
Downtown
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