Allegheny County Council told assessments meet standards
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Allegheny County's chief assessment officer told a County Council committee yesterday that the 2006 property assessment numbers meet accepted international standards, prompting some council members to question Chief Executive Dan Onorato's proposal to cap assessment increases at 4 percent.
The proposal is scheduled for a vote at County Council's regular meeting on Tuesday night.
Onorato first presented his bill Feb. 15, arguing that 79 percent of the county's 500,000 residential property owners would have seen significant tax increases if he had mailed out the 2006 figures.
Those numbers were posted on the county's Web site last week.
Onorato wanted to limit the increases because he said average property values in the county would increase by about 20 percent under the new assessments.
Chief Assessment Officer Deborah Bunn, speaking before council's Special Committee on Property Assessments yesterday, said the new assessment numbers abide by the standards of the Chicago-based International Association of Assessing Officers.
That means the percentage of inaccurate assessments is likely to be in the single digits, although Bunn could not give an exact number.
The major increases, she said, reflect a strong housing market marked by low interest rates, new construction and a high number of sales.
"The market was extremely volatile," she said.
County Councilman Dave Fawcett noted that supporters of Onorato's bill have been arguing that the new assessment figures do not come close to reflecting market value and need to be capped.
"But we're hearing the opposite," he said. "The assessments, by and large, are better and more accurate."
County Manager Jim Flynn countered that the county as a whole may meet the IAAO standards, but the 2006 figures are less reliable when looking at individual neighborhoods and properties.
County Council President Rich Fitzgerald said he and his fellow council members have a duty to shield property owners from large tax increases.
"Accuracy is subjective," he said. "While we may be doing everything right, our taxpayers are going to be hurt."
Fawcett proposed creating a resolution that asks the county's municipalities and school districts to adjust their millage rates so assessment increases do not result in huge windfalls.
As chairman of the special committee, Councilman Wayne Fontana was able to put the property assessment bill on next week's council agenda without a separate vote in the committee.
If the bill passes, property assessments would be broken into six categories: reduction, no change, or increases of 1, 2, 3 or 4 percent.
Properties will be placed in those categories based on a mathematical formula.
That formula has not been established, Flynn told the committee. He did not expect it to be ready by next week.
First Published March 10, 2005 12:00 am
