Fitzgerald Meets with Local Property Owners on 2013 Reassessments

One woman said property taxes in her Moon Township neighborhood will appreciate by more than 200 percent under Allegheny County's latest property assessment. 

"Unless they found precious metals on my property, how could it have gone up so extremely?" she said before a group of homeowners in the auditorium. 

Property owners gathered at the high school Tuesday night to question Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald on the county's 2013 court-ordered reassessment, which Fitzgerald called "a horrible system." 

"It's affecting jobs, it's affecting our economy," Fitzgerald said of the countywide assessments. "The system that we have in place punishes you by causing you to pay more taxes for fixing up your property." 

The average property value increase in the  is 45 percent, the fourth highest in the county under the reassessment.

Officials in various communities have been trying to make sense of the mathematical method used to come up with the reassessed values.

 last week said he is very concerned the borough values are "all over the place." The borough's land value on all of the borough-owned properties, including parks and parking lots, went from $21.7 million to $5.3 million in the reassessment. In contrast, land values for the  in Sewickley Heights jumped from a $3.52 million assessed value to about $58 million.

"I have a real problem in that our land values have dropped, yet everybody else's values" have gone up, Flannery said.

In Sewickley, Flannery started a block-by-block analysis and uncovered varied assessments for similar properties. For example, houses that generally are the same size in one block of Thorn Street all have the same land values, while seven houses in a similar block on Grove Street received different land values, Flannery said. 

At Tuesday's town hall meeting, Fitzgerald deflected blame to Allegheny County Common Pleas Senior Judge R. Stanton Wettick, who overruled Fitzgerald's move earlier this year to declare new property assessments in the county . 

"I'm frustrated that we have to use your tax dollars to go after you," said Fitzgerald, who estimated that the assessment process will cost the county more than $11 million this year. 

Real estate and assessment professionals were on hand to walk residents through the appeal process. The deadline to file formal appeals on an assessment was April 2. 

Residents also expressed frustration at the assessment and appeal process. 

"Let me remind you, we are the only county going through this," Fitzgerald said. "Some of them haven't done this since the 1960s and we're being forced to by the courts and the school districts." 

County property assessment values go into effect in 2013. 

How are reassessment values calculated?

County employees drove or walked by each of the 560,000 properties and compared them to existing photographs and information on each parcel. Assessors used geographic information as well as municipal and school district lines to create divisions and neighborhoods to compare similar dwellings. 

Homes sold since 2009 were taken into account if they sold at fair market value. A computer analysis was conducted in each neighborhood grouping to show recent sales and comparable homes. More unique homes were assessed by determining a "replacement cost" of the home.

What impacts home value?

Factors such as square footage, location, living space and the structure's composition (wood, brick, stone, etc.) are examined. The style of dwelling and condition are also factored in, as are items such as finished basements and the number of bathrooms in a home or the number of total rooms. 

Fitzgerald said three key questions should be asked about all reassessments. 

1. Is my property information correct?

2. Could I sell my property at this value?

3. Am I being treated equally?

Residents should inspect property information to make sure factors such as lot size, total acreage, total rooms and years remodeled are correct. Residents should also look at comparable properties to see if their assessed higher than those designated similar homes. 

How can I correct information that is false in my assessment?

By calling 412-350-4600 during business hours or submitting information through the county's property assessment website."

You can also schedule an appointment to appear in person to correct information. 

--

Patch Editor Larissa Dudkiewicz contributed to this article.