Allegheny County's assessment appeals board yesterday said it would follow a judge's order and allow homeowners to have the option of arguing for a property's current market value, bypassing the county's new 2002 base year system.

Board members, however, didn't say they would give taxing bodies -- the county, school districts and municipalities -- the same right, since Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr.'s ruling this week didn't address that issue.

Judge Wettick instead focused on the situation of a Wilkinsburg couple who said their property had depreciated considerably during the past four years. They said state law lets them seek an assessment reduction that reflects their home's value in the 2006 housing market. The judge accepted their argument.

Now, the appeals board will rewrite its rules to give the same opportunity to all county homeowners.

Ira Weiss, solicitor for Pittsburgh Public Schools and several suburban school districts, said that ruling may implicitly grant taxing bodies the ability also to seek current market values.

"I don't believe it's necessary to have a separate lawsuit," he said. "There are hundreds of appeals already. At some point, the issue of school districts and municipalities will be addressed."

But Jerry Y. Speer, appeals board chairman, said taxing bodies likely won't have any success if they try to stray from the base year during assessment appeal hearings.

"They can argue it, but I don't think they'll get a favorable decision," he said. "The judge doesn't speak to that."

Board members said they would try to send a copy of their new rules to Allegheny County Council before its Tuesday night meeting. Council then will have 30 days to act on the changes.

Last year, council and county Chief Executive Dan Onorato ended the process of regular reassessments and set 2002 as a base year, following a practice used by many counties throughout Pennsylvania.

The county also filed 11,000 appeals on behalf of homeowners who purchased property after 2002 and saw school districts or municipalities win increases based on sales prices.

In March, Judge Wettick ruled that state law permits the base year approach. A few months later, James P. and Jennifer Daugherty of Todd Street in Wilkinsburg sued both the county and the appeals board. They bought their home in 2004 for $31,500, although their property's assessment is still $66,900.

The county has not yet said if it will appeal the judge's ruling in the case, although Mr. Onorato has been very critical of the decision. He argues that the base year is needed to provide stability in the county's assessment process.

Another group of homeowners has mounted a separate legal challenge against the base year, saying it violates the Pennsylvania Constitution by forcing homeowners with falling property values to shoulder a larger share of the tax burden. Judge Wettick will preside over a trial in that case in December.

The appeals board this week postponed about 1,000 hearings scheduled for Tuesday and yesterday as it prepared its response to the judge's most recent ruling.

Those hearings will be rescheduled later this month, and property owners will receive a 14-day notice of their new hearing dates.

No other scheduled hearings have been postponed.

Mr. Speer said the board hopes to finish hearings for all of this year's 30,000 appeals by mid-November.