Judge delays reassessment change 1 year to help schools
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Attorney Paul Lalley, representing the Pittsburgh Public Schools, successfully argued to delay the property reassessment numbers for one more year.
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Assessed values on all Allegheny County properties will not change until 2013, the judge overseeing the project ruled Thursday.
Common Pleas Senior Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. approved a request from the Pittsburgh Public Schools to use 2002 base-year numbers for tax bills for one more year instead of new values released for Pittsburgh and Mount Oliver properties last month.
The judge's ruling, which covers all taxing bodies, gives property owners across the county the opportunity to make formal appeals of new assessed values that they believe are incorrect. Residents also may get a chance to have informal hearings where they can question the new values, but details of that option have yet to be worked out.
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, a Democrat and longtime foe of reassessment who doesn't want to use the new numbers at all, called the judge's decision "a great victory." Mr. Fitzgerald said he would continue his efforts to persuade the state Legislature to pass a moratorium on reassessment and to adopt uniform standards for valuing properties for all Pennsylvania counties.
Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said he, too, welcomed the judge's ruling, but said he was concerned that city residents might not have a chance to make informal appeals.
Lawyer Paul Lalley, representing the school district, had told the judge that using the new property values would make it difficult for the school board to set an accurate millage rate for this year. A large number of successful appeals could reduce the total value of all city properties. That value is used to determine the millage rates for school district taxes, and an error in setting it could leave the schools short of funds, he said.
"Mr. Lalley convinced me the school district would have a very serious problem," Judge Wettick said.
The judge's decision to delay the use of new numbers until 2013 also eliminates any question about the need for court approval of a 21 percent increase in county real estate taxes for 2012. County council approved the increase last month. While there is some dispute over how to interpret the statute, state law appears to limit tax increases to a maximum of 5 percent in a reassessment year.
Lawyers for property owners who sued the county over its continued use of 2002 base-year assessment numbers said the judge's decision means their clients will continue to bear a disproportionate share of taxes for another year. Their attorneys had convinced lower courts and the state Supreme Court that the passage of time since the previous assessment resulted in recent purchasers and residents in less-affluent communities paying more in property taxes than longtime owners and people in wealthier neighborhoods.
In a second order, Judge Wettick told the county that it could not fire Wesley Graham as acting chief assessment officer until reassessment was finished. That order is designed to ensure that the project continues without interruption, with an expected completion date in late February or early March for the rest of the county.
Mr. Fitzgerald last week declared the new assessment numbers to be "null and void" and told residents they could ignore them in favor of continuing to use the 2002 numbers.
In response, Judge Wettick had issued an order threatening to hold senior county officials, including acting county manager Jim Flynn, in contempt of court if they attempted to slow down the final stages of the assessment project.
Mr. Fitzgerald said at a news conference that the judge's ruling has given him what he wanted. "The 2012 assessment numbers will not be used for 2012 tax bills," he said.
He said he would not seek to stop the release of new assessments to property owners in the rest of the county in the coming weeks, because those numbers won't be used this year. He predicted "massive errors" and confusion when suburban residents get their new property values.
While real estate values are certified by the county's Office of Property Assessments, a separate and independent Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review will hear formal challenges to the new numbers.
The board should start hearing appeals from Pittsburgh and Mount Oliver residents as soon as Feb. 1, Judge Wettick said. He said he wanted all appeals of new assessment numbers heard and decided by the end of 2012. Mount Oliver properties were among the first to be reassessed because the borough is part of the city school district.
The deadline for city and Mount Oliver residents to make formal appeals of their 2012 assessed values is Feb. 24.
David Montgomery, solicitor for the appeals board, said he was pleased by the judge's decision and believed that the board's hearing officers could complete their work by year's end. It was a wise policy to have all appeals heard before any property owners were hit by the effects of reassessment, he said.
Mr. Lalley said the judge's decision met the needs of the school district and maintained the integrity of the assessment process.
Attorneys Don Driscoll and Robert Max Junker, whose firms represented property owners who sued for reassessment, agreed that the judge's decision was a setback for their clients.
"They will be paying unfair taxes for another year," Mr. Junker said. "But we also were concerned that the county might fire Mr. Graham and dismantle the reassessment project, and we can take some comfort in the judge's [second] ruling."
Mr. Graham has said on several occasions that informal hearings -- usually held before the county certifies new property values -- can help both to catch math and property-characteristic errors and to identify neighborhood-wide problems. County solicitor Michael Wojcik said the county once again would like to offer that option to property owners.
The county had canceled informal appeals immediately after Mr. Fitzgerald threw out the new assessment numbers.
"I don't want informals to get in the way of completing formal appeals," Judge Wettick said.
He will next meet with county officials at 10:30 a.m. Thursday for an update on the remaining assessment work and to discuss a timetable and options for assessment appeals.
First Published January 13, 2012 12:00 am
