Over the past decade, Allegheny County has changed property assessment systems more times than some people change the oil in their car.

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From a 1996 assessment freeze, to two years of court-imposed across-the-board increases, to two rounds of annual reassessments, to a three-year "breather," to a "base year," property owners have seen just about every trick or technique in the book except one: stability.

Whether yesterday's ruling by Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. will finally bring that -- and the ever elusive accuracy -- probably won't be known for some time. It was clear in the aftermath of the decision that the battle is far from over.

In declaring the base year system in the county -- and the state -- unconstitutional and ordering reassessments, Judge Wettick set in place a framework he believes will bring not only stability but more accuracy and fairness to a system that has been dysfunctional for decades.

But if history has shown anything, it is that county politicians will go to great lengths to avoid regularly reassessing property, even though, as Judge Wettick pointed out, that is virtually the norm in every other state but Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Even in victory, Ira Weiss, a former county solicitor and one of the lawyers who brought the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the base-year system, had doubts about whether the ruling would settle the matter once and for all.

"Judging from the reaction that has occurred in the past, they're going to persist in this fiction that no judge can tell them what to do," he said.

As if on cue, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato did just that. In announcing an appeal of the ruling and order, he argued that Judge Wettick overstepped his authority in requiring reassessments to be implemented in 2009 (depending on the status of the appeal) and 2010.

He described it as a "mini separation of power crisis" in Allegheny County.

"That is not the power of the judiciary to dictate how and when we do reassessments. That is what County Council was elected to do. That is what I was elected to do. As far as this administration is concerned, there is no planned reassessment," he said.

The county's appeal will go directly to the state's Supreme Court. If the high court were to affirm Judge Wettick's ruling, the decision would impact virtually every county and every property owner in the state -- and perhaps force the Legislature to confront an issue that has the potential to be even more toxic than pay raises.

In his ruling, Judge Wettick estimated that at least 34 of 67 counties in Pennsylvania did not conduct a comprehensive reassessment in the 20 years between 1985 and 2005, the last year for which figures were available.

Such a gap invariably leads to disparities, which Judge Wettick said inevitably discriminates against homeowners in lower valued areas whose assessments remain high even as their property values decline.

Put another way, he wrote, "If the General Assembly permitted a method of calculating income for purposes of paying the annual state income tax that resulted in 25 percent of the taxpayers paying an effective rate of taxation that is more than twice the effective rate of taxation of another 25 percent of the taxpayers, this legislation would have no chance of surviving a challenge based on the uniformity clause. The Pennsylvania Constitution intends for real estate taxes to be judged by the same standards."

If the Supreme Court affirms Judge Wettick, Mr. Onorato believes it will compel the Legislature to act to craft a new law that puts all 67 counties on the same playing field.

But after years of debate, the Legislature hasn't come close to reaching a consensus on property tax reform, and G. Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, said property assessment is "one of the thorniest and most contentious issues" in the state.

"The whole property tax situation is a hornet's nest that politicians are just reluctant to enter without fear for their own political survival because it's such a volatile subject and affects so many people," he said.

Even if the Supreme Court were to order changes, Mr. Madonna wondered whether the Legislature would engage in true reform or simply look for the easiest way to "patch it up" to comply with the law.

"I think there will be tremendous reluctance to touch it," he said.

Christopher Borick, director of the Public Opinion Institute at Muhlenberg College, believes Mr. Madonna might have a point. But at the same time, he said the ruling might serve as an opportunity for the Legislature to once and for all address two issues -- property assessments and tax reform -- in a comprehensive way.

"At least it gives them the opportunity to think more broadly," he said.

Local political analyst Bill Green believes another factor could force the Legislature's hand: fear. He said property tax reform, if left undone, could become "the pay raise of the 2008 election." Mix in assessments and it could become the perfect storm.

But even as Judge Wettick's ruling hit like a thunderclap in Allegheny County, legislative leaders weren't rushing in with umbrellas. They adopted a wait-and-see stance.

"I think that's probably something they're going to [wait to] see what the court says," said Steve Miskin, an aide to House Republican leader Sam Smith.

"We will be watching this case proceed through the court system very closely. It does have the prospect of requiring down the road at some point legislative action," added Erik Arneson, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester.

For now, as Mr. Onorato made clear, nothing will change, as Judge Wettick has given his ruling time to work its way through the court system.

While property owners have ping-ponged through assessment systems for more than a decade, Mr. Onorato maintained yesterday that his base-year system actually has produced stability because there have been no changes in four years.

But given the history, county taxpayers are left to wonder whether that's simply the lull in the storm.