I read an interesting article in The Patriot-News last week highlighting one local government's efforts to force the Cumberland County Commssioners (Link) to move property tax reassessment forward:
"East Pennsboro Area School District officials are warning of a fiscal crisis and urging Cumberland County commissioners to quickly order another property reassessment.
The situation could become dire if major commercial properties in the district win cuts in their assessments -- and property tax bills -- Superintendent Linda J. Bigos said in a letter.
Commission Chairman Bruce Barclay said action on reassessment isn't likely before a task force studying the issue reports this year.
"We have the task force in place," he said Monday. "We might as well follow through with that."
Bigos' letter is the latest thrust in a duel over reassessment that began when Barclay and fellow Republican Commissioner Gary Eichelberger ended the four-year reassessment cycle last summer. The county's most recent reassessment was in 2004.
Democratic Commissioner Rick Rovegno has been pressing for another reassessment.
Barclay and Eichelberger criticized cyclical reassessment as an unnecessary hassle for residents. Rovegno insisted it ensured tax fairness.
Reassessment would have been under way had the Republicans not canceled the cycle...."
The issue here is not that Ms. Bigos wants the commissioners to do something they shouldn't. The issue is that, four years ago, Commissioners Barclay and Eichelberger promised to undo the four-year reassessment cycle their predecessors, Commssioners Besch, Keller, and Rovegno, had instituted.
Now, Bruce & Gary have delivered on that promise. The cost of that delivery, though, is only now becoming clear to many.
"...In her letter, Bigos said delaying reassessment will "greatly harm" her district because assessments will get out of line with actual property values, making it attractive for owners of large commercial properties to seek assessment cuts.
The district could lose more than $150,000 in tax revenue annually if its largest taxpayer wins a reduction, she said.
That equals the tax money the district collects from 80 single-family homes valued at $150,000 each.
"Any loss of real estate tax revenue will severely hamper our ability to fund the budget," Bigos wrote.
Rovegno called her concerns "valid" and said his colleagues should have ordered a study of the system before killing cyclical reassessment.
"I have a feeling the assessment study commission may be studying problems of our own creation," he said."
Bruce & Gary know full well that their failure to lead on this issue will cost Cumberland County taxpayers in the long run. The Common Level Ratio (CLR), the statistic used to determine if an assessment appeal is successful, is now 0.82, and falling everyday. Bruce & Gary know this.
And Bruce & Gary also know that, by dismantling the four-year cycle, then calling for a commission to study the issue, they will delay until after the fall election the general public discovering the exact dollar figure for their folly.
I don't believe for an instant that the timing of these events is coincidental. The longer I serve, the less I believe in coincidences.
I don't understand why reassessment and a failure to lead hasn't been made a major issue in the fall election, especially by challenger Linda Cecconello (Link). That case can still be made, but it gets harder with each passing day to make it happen.
I do believe I will never be able to prove that Bruce & Gary conspired to deceive Cumberland County taxpayers in order to secure reelection. Open records requests may shed some light on it, but that would be a long, lonely road for a reporter to travel.
I believe I will be faced with possibly voting to increase local taxes to offset reduced county services. Potentially, a successful assessment appeal by Liberty Forge or Hempt Brothers or Bethany Village could cost the Township thousands of dollars of tax revenue.
I believe Commissioner Rovegno has showed singular vision and courage on this topic. He has spoken out strongly several times, and has never wavered in his belief that taxpayers will be harmed by not reassessing every four years.
And I know that I will do all I can to lay the blame for reduced property tax revenues at the feet of those who have not, in my opinion, acted in the best interests of the people they serve. I can't do much, but I'll do as much as I can.
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