For the second time in his laudable career, Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. has saved Allegheny County from the inequity of an assessment freeze. Though the judge may not see it that way, given the differences in the two cases, the impact for property taxpayers was the same.

Both under the 1996 freeze declared by the last regime of county commissioners and under the base-year method installed in 2005 by County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and County Council, property owners were saddled with assessments that didn't reflect reality and that weren't going to be updated any time soon. Thus, real estate tax bills were based on value estimates that were too high or too low and not reflective of what the property's share of the tax load should be.

No amount of arguing by Mr. Onorato that other Pennsylvania counties use the base-year method could mask the unfairness. So Judge Wettick ruled yesterday that any county base-year method, without a mechanism to bring assessments up to reality, violates the Pennsylvania Constitution's uniformity clause -- and that is that.

For comparison, imagine the federal government deciding to peg all income taxes to the base year of 2002. By 2007, many Americans are making more, while others, unfortunately, are making less. Yet the law of the land says everyone's tax will be calculated on the amount of income they had five years earlier. That is outrageous and unconscionable. So it is with base-year property assessments.

Judge Wettick anticipated an appeal of his 94-page ruling, and Mr. Onorato said yesterday he will get one. But the judge's finding is so sweeping that, once before the state Supreme Court, the case could become dynamite for property assessments in all 67 counties.

Although Allegheny County will be allowed to use the base-year method pending appeal, the judge has ordered the chief assessor to do a computer-assisted reassessment by April 2008 for use in 2009, then another reassessment for the following year. All of which means back to the future, back to reality.

Dan Onorato has earned high marks as a public steward for seeking cuts and efficiencies that improve the taxpayers' bottom line. But he's been in denial about what constitutes fairness on property assessment. If Pennsylvania is forced to confront the issue statewide, the end result may be an equitable and uniform approach, insulated from politics.

Maryland is one state that performs regular, routine reassessments -- and all without taxpayer revolts. Allegheny County has the ability to do the same, but it lacks the political will to live with them.