Assessments increase 31 percent in southern Allegheny County
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Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, center, with attorney Michael Stetor, listen while Bill Tyhurst, right, describes the photos of his property. Mr. Tyhurst said the assessed value on his home went from $39,900 to $128,100.
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Property values in Allegheny County's southern suburbs rose 31 percent between 2002 and 2011, according to new reassessment statistics.
That number reflects a 25 percent increase in the value of residential property and 53 percent increase in the value of commercial properties.
The figures released by the Office of Property Assessments as part of its revaluation of real estate across the county show the aggregate value of taxable parcels in the south rising from $15.3 billion to $20 billion.
That 31 percent overall increase is well below the 58 percent increase in the aggregate property value for the City of Pittsburgh. The total value of taxable real estate there rose from $13.5 billion to $21.3 billion, according to county appraisal numbers.
The jump in the value of property in the southern suburbs was well above the 26 percent overall increase reported for the county's eastern suburbs. That value rose from $10 billion to $12.6 billion.
The southern suburbs include communities as diverse as Mt. Lebanon, where aggregate value rose 30 percent, and Munhall, where property values rose 15 percent.
The state Supreme Court ordered Allegheny County to reassess after justices concluded that the county's 2002 base-year system was over-taxing residents of many poorer communities. The judges relied on evidence that property values didn't accurately reflect declines in poorer communities or increases in wealthier communities.
Reassessment was supposed to redistribute that tax burden more fairly.
As was the case in the eastern suburbs, though, assessments increases were substantially different in communities that seem fairly similar. For example, the aggregate value of property in Bridgeville rose 42 percent, while total value in Jefferson rose 33 percent.
More information in Tuesday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
First Published February 27, 2012 12:24 pm
