Fairness questioned in new assessments for eastern suburbs
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New statistics from Allegheny County's eastern suburbs indicate that an $11 million reassessment may not have eliminated disparities between properties in poor communities assessed too high and properties in wealthier communities assessed too low, a lawyer at the center of the case said Thursday.
Homeowners in low-income municipalities like Braddock and Duquesne are finding their new assessments have increased more than those in wealthier communities such as Plum and Monroeville, attorney Don Driscoll told the judge overseeing the county's court-ordered reassessment.
Mr. Driscoll filed one of the original lawsuits that resulted in reassessment on behalf of a Braddock resident challenging the previous assessment in 2002. He said evidence was mounting that real estate in poorer communities could continue to be overvalued when the new numbers go into effect in 2013.
He said he drew that conclusion after reviewing new values released last week for the county's eastern suburbs.
The data show assessed values in Monroeville, one of the region's retail hubs, rose 26 percent from $2.05 billion to $2.59 billion. Plum values rose a similar 24 percent from $1.26 billion to $1.56 billion.
Assessment numbers in Braddock and Duquesne, which are among the region's poorest communities, however, have risen even higher. Property values in Braddock rose 34 percent from $48.3 million to $65 million. In Duquesne, where the increase was 32 percent, assessed values rose to almost $122 million from $92.3 million.
In Rankin, another depressed Mon Valley community, values rose 75 percent between 2002 and 2012 -- from $14.1 million to $24.7 million. The value of properties in more affluent Churchill rose 39 percent, from $238.6 million to $332.6 million. Both municipalities are in the Woodland Hills School District, where the aggregate property value rose 36 percent.
First Published February 3, 2012 12:00 am
