Allegheny County, which is already undergoing property reassessment, offers an instructive example of what is about to happen in Lehigh County. It's bad news for a homeowner struggling to make a monthly payment.
According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, property owners who appeal their new assessments will have to prove they're incorrect. The best way to do this is with a certified appraisal, but that costs money. Even for an 89-year-old widow whose home doubled in value.
While the whole point of reassessment is to insure tax fairness, that goal is defeated when fairness can only be guaranteed to those with the means to pay for it.
10 comments:
Isn't this one more argument in favor of getting rid of the property tax? HB 1776 is under consideration in Pennsylvania legislature currently -- we should tell our representative we support it.
Dream on.
The lack of equal access to appeals is a problem, but is it enough to change the general trend where people whose properties increased in value pay more, and people whose properties decreased in value will pay less? I doubt it.
It's also important to remember that people can always move. A house can in fact be exchanged for money, and the money can be used to pay for cheaper housing and whatever else people want to spend it on.
People are understandably reluctant to do that, but everybody writing about reassessment should keep in mind that the worst case scenario with these property tax changes is not starvation, but moving.
Now that's compassionate liberalism. Like it or leave it. Geeting and his ilk create new right leaners and libertarians every time they blab or scrawl.
Bernie, Isn't that what they said about the folks running the American Revolution? Isn't that what they said to Vlacak Havel? Isn't that what they said to Martin Luther King? Dream On. Yup, Dr. King came right back: "I have a dream...." So, same thing for HB1776. Why not?
Because for one thing, the bill does not even exist.
I am a Democrat and Geeting just offended me. Nice job there Jon, with young Dem's like you we will have a President Santorum. Now that is chilling.
Bernie will write anything to protect his buddy the "Dhonnn".
I'm a democrat and i think president Santorum would be far better than what we have in there now. I'm actually surprised he's still there.
Lehigh County will have an "informal" appeal period for several monts so they can deal with those unusual circumstances where somebody is drastically over assessed. No need for an appraisal during this period. It's intended to root out any mistakes or issues.
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