Should Allegheny County reassess properties? County executive candidates weigh in
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Should Allegheny County reassess your property? It's become a hot button issue in the county executive race.
After backlash against the last assessment 11 years ago, the county executive candidates are divided.
"A reassessment is stealth for 'I'm going to raise your taxes,'" said Republican Joe Rockey.
"If it is determined we need to reassess, yes I would," said Democrat Sara Innamorato.
A reassessment could mean fairer values but they've been historically unpopular with homeowners who fear sticker shock with their next property tax bill.
If you own a home, the amount of property tax you pay is based on how much your house is worth, but as KDKA-TV has been reporting, some property valuations in Allegheny County are out of whack.
Some newcomers and first-time homebuyers are paying twice the taxes of their neighbors and many lower-income homes are over-assessed, paying as much as their richer counterparts.
"It's Robinhood in reverse," said real estate expert Mike Suley.
Home prices in upscale towns and neighborhoods have shot up in the past decade. Suley says the only way to restore fairness is to reassess or revalue the entire county.
"Tens of thousands of people paying too much in taxes and the only remedy is a reassessment," Suley said.
But while proponents like Suley say a reassessment is the only fair way to go, in practice, they are widely unpopular. In 2012, more than 100,000 property owners said their assessments were too high and spent time and money filing appeals.
Angry homeowners packed the hallways at the county assessment board filling out forms, paying advisors and attending their appeal hearings in hopes of lowering their new valuations and thus their property taxes.
"It definitely will cause a lot of turmoil and consternation in the public," said assessment board attorney David Montgomery.
Montgomery says reassessments are needed from time to time and would be less painful if they were done every couple of years.
"People would get used to it. There would be an expectation. There would be no mystery. There would be a transparency to the whole system," he said.
But even if the next county executive doesn't order a reassessment, a judge may do it anyway and that means this whole process will start over again.
