A Wilkinsburg couple can use the current market value of their property to challenge Allegheny County's property assessment, a judge ruled today.

The couple, James P. and Jennifer Daugherty, said it was not fair for the county to use 2002 as a base year for assessments and not allow owners of property in declining communities to use the current market value for their assessment. Common Pleas court Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. agreed.

The Daughertys bought a house in January 2004 for $31,500, but the county assessment in 2002 was $66,900, which was used for property tax purposes. The assessment appeals board refused to allow the couple to argue the property had declined in value since 2002 and should be assessed at the lower value.

The ruling dealt only with the Daughertys, but it also is expected to apply to anyone else, such as school districts, seeking to challenge assessments based on current values. One reason the county switched to a base year system was to prevent school districts from claiming properties in growing communities have substantially increased in value and should have higher assessments based on their current value.

After arguments before Judge Wettick last week, county Solicitor Michael Wojcik said it would cause "chaos" if school districts were allowed to challenge assessments based on current market value. The county filed appeals on behalf of about 11,000 property owners who had their assessments increased after 2002 based on an appeal by their school districts.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.