Lower Allen Web Log

So, what did you do on your latest vacation?

Really. Do tell.

Me?

Well, I spent time with my daughter, made meatballs, saw Gran Torino, Doubt and Milk, and spent two hours at the Cumberland County Commissioners' work meeting Thursday morning re whether or not the county should proceed with its current real estate reassessment.

That's just how I roll.

Comm. Eichelberger framed the meeting at the outset. He stated no decision would be made that day, that the commissioners were simply gathering information to make a better decision on whether the half-finished $700,000 two-year long process should continue. In his words, the commissioners need to know if, given current market forces, the reassessment will give the county "a realistic snapshot in time" that is "in focus."

According to comments by Chief Assessor Bonnie Mahoney, the county is on track to complete all the work in a timely manner. If the process is allowed to continue, property owners will receive their new assessments in increments of three school districts each on March 1, May 1 and July 1. New values would take effect Jan. 1, 2010.

By the way, all property tax millage rates would have to be reset by the county, municipalities, and school districts to account for the new valuations. In the year following a reassessment, no taxing body may raise its millage rates by more than 5%.

Tim Barr of 21st Century Appraisals presented a wealth of information about the assessment, and answered several questions from the commissioners. Two members of the ad hoc panel appointed by Commissioners Barclay, Eichelberger and Rovegno in 2007 to study the assessment question - Harry Snyder & Don Paul Shearer - presented contradictory information on the state of the real estate market.

And, of course, I made some comments as a member of the public.

You may ask why bother. Why did I spend a morning of my vacation in a suit and tie bandying words in Carlisle?

Simply, LAT has lost more than $25,000 since 2005 in real estate assessment appeals. Because the common level ratio is now 0.77, property owners who appeal their property's assessed value will likely be able to pay taxes on 77% of the assessed value instead of 100%. That equals reduced tax paid by a few which must be made up by the many.

Cumberland County last assessed property values in 2004. At that time, the common level ratio (CLR) was reset to 1.00 signifying all properties were valued fairly and equally. Every month after an assessment the CLR shifts away from equilibrium. The further away from 1.00 your CLR shifts, the more inequitable property values are for the group.

According to Mr. Barr, Cumberland County is one of the most progressive counties in the Commonwealth with regard to property assessment. But when Commissioners Eichelberger and Barclay kept a campaign promise to derail the cyclical four year assessment schedule and to tie it instead to market forces - a moving target at best - the county went astray.

In the short term, it's time to restore equality to our property values. The county's assessment team should be allowed to finish its work.

Long term, assessments should be scheduled like a trip to the doctor. Nobody likes going, but its for your own good.

Let's take the medicine now, then heal the wrong done in 2007.

I call on the commissioners to finish the current assessment, and to then establish scheduled assessments from that point forward.