MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Residents and realtors look on as comments are made in opposition to the South Williamsport School Board’s proposed real estate reassessment during a special meeting Tuesday night.

The South Williamsport Area School Board voted 6-2 Tuesday night to upend a policy adopted in May to appeal the assessed values of some properties sold in the school district in the past three years — but first, the board members listened.

The now-former policy recorded property sales in the district in the past three years, used a complex formula to compare the sales price with the assessed value, and appealed the assessment if it appeared an updated assessment would yield a higher property value and subsequently a higher tax bill.

After brief remarks by board President Chris Branton to explain the policy and how the board approved it, a packed audience weighed in on its objections to the measure.

Paul Mostoller said the policy was hitting him on both sides, as his newly purchased home in South Williamsport had seen its taxes increase by about $500 and his previous home, now on the market, saw its tax bill rise by about $700.

“My house isn’t selling,” Mostoller said.

Tim Rissel said his family chose to live in the district in large part for its schools, but he would consider selling if the policy remained on the books. He predicted other residents would suffer foreclosures, all of which will lower property sales prices in the district’s communities.

Deborah Williams, an associate broker for Re/Max West Branch, said the practice of reviewing purchasing prices from three years ago distorted the picture, as the region still was in the gas industry’s heydays then.

“We brought all those families in, we had nowhere to put them,” she said of the boom’s impact on housing supplies.

She noted that while Williamsport Area School District considered an assessment appeals policy and chose not to implement it, Muncy School District is pursuing a similar approach and said it’s already dampening home sales.

“It’s affecting the market,” Williams said. “It’s a lot for someone who is a first-time homebuyer or on a fixed income.”

Lori Solomon, a South Williamsport resident also representing the West Branch Association of Realtors, thanked the board for reconsidering the policy. She said purchasing prices of real estate are not a dependable variable to factor into tax bills.

“We know the practice itself is legal, but it’s unfair,” Solomon said.

Resident Debra Stark said she had worked in mortgages and foreclosures for years, and also fears foreclosures would be on the horizon if the policy wasn’t abandoned. She said banks and lenders will begin to factor these increases into future mortgages, making home purchases out of reach for more district families. Other audience members in real estate and finance concurred, adding the policy would impact re-financing as well.

Some in the audience responded directly to Branton’s explanation. Branton said much of the need to increase revenues stems from growing retirement and charter school costs.

“Just in those two categories, we’ve had (an increase of) $460,000,” Branton said.

Teacher Brenda Trimble, representing the district’s affiliate of the teachers’ union, said the district knows about and should expect and plan ahead for retirement costs. She said the school board and administrators always point at retirement costs, including in contract negotiations when resisting greater pay increases and other benefits.

“It’s the same excuse I’ve been hearing for 10 years,” she said. “We are one of the lowest-paying (districts) in the county. … We are not getting rich.”

Branton also said the median purchase price for the 156 properties affected by the policy is $112,500. That median property had an assessed value of $62,510 and if the appeal had continued successfully, its assessed value would’ve increased about $20,000.

Real estate agent Kelly Antonelli countered that reviewing the median left about 70 homes with higher sales prices, nearly all of which faced greater changes in their assessed values and tax bills.

After one resident questioned if the board had lobbied Lycoming County Commissioners for a full reassessment of property values, commissioners said Superintendent Mark Stamm and other superintendents had requested the county consider reassesssment. Commissioner Tony Mussare said his resistance stemmed from how unresolved federal action on flood insurance would threaten county residents’ equity after a reassessment. Commissioners Rick Mirabito, Jack McKernan and Mussare also cited the high costs of performing a reassessment and said they continue to search for ways of bringing costs down. The last reassessment was in 2004.

“It’s on our radar,” McKernan said.

Branton and board member Nathan Miller cast the two “no” votes, while board members Erica Molino, Airneezer Page, Gregg Anthony, Steve Persun, Sue Davenport and Cathy Bachman voted to repeal the policy and end the appeals.