Allegheny County reassessment favors properties with higher prices, review finds
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The reassessment of Pittsburgh treated expensive land and buildings gently, while overestimating the values of low-priced properties.
The Allegheny County-run reassessment fell far short of the goal of distributing the tax burden fairly among owners of high-dollar properties and residents of modest homes.
Those are the findings of a Post-Gazette review of new assessments on 130,977 taxable properties in the city and Mount Oliver. The PG analyzed 2,099 arms-length sales (transactions in which the parties act independently and have no relationship with each other), which should suggest real market values. Zooming in on properties that changed hands in 2011 showed clear trends.
Assessments on 233 properties that recently sold for between $100,000 and $150,000 were, on average, accurate. Properties that recently sold for less than $100,000 were typically assessed for more than their sales prices. Those that sold for more than $150,000 were assessed for less than their price tags.
PG CHARTThe trend bears out across city neighborhoods, with areas such as Shadyside and Squirrel Hill seeing assessments come in lower than recent sales prices, while Homewood and Knoxville are being saddled with tax obligations based on values that outstrip sales prices.
The ramifications: "Lower-value homes are paying a disproportionately higher portion of local governmental costs," said Rachel Weber, an associate professor of urban policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Great Cities Institute, who has studied property assessment and reviewed the Post-Gazette's findings. "Moreover, higher assessments could potentially suppress future purchases or development in lower-income locations."
Wesley Graham, the county's acting chief assessment officer, acknowledged that the reassessment was regressive -- assigning relatively low assessments to expensive properties -- but said it fell within industry standards.
"There's too many questions and too many problems with your analysis," he said of the Post-Gazette's review, saying the newspaper should have verified that each of the 2,099 sales studied was between disinterested parties. "Without that kind of verification, those numbers concern me."
Mr. Graham said county appraisers have the expertise to determine which sales reflect market conditions.
First Published February 5, 2012 12:00 am
