Lycoming County commissioners address another ‘hot topic’ — reassessment
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Using the analogy of a leaky roof that needs to be fixed now, Lycoming County Commissioner Rick Mirabito made the case for the county to conduct a reassessment to bring the tax system into a more equitable state. His fellow commissioner Scott Metzger, however, was not buying it.
"It's like the roof is in really bad shape. We've put off replacing it, but now it's like if we don't replace the roof the house is going to flood," Mirabito said
Mirabito likened the house flooding to the constant need to raise taxes because currently the system is not equitable.
Metzger argued that it is not whether reassessment is needed, it's when it should be done.
"You can sit there and argue and say that the roof is leaking. We've got to replace the roof, but sometimes you can't replace the roof because you don't have the money," Metzger said.
"You might have to patch it for a year or two to get by," he added.
The issue of how much money the county will actually be spending next year remained unknown as the commissioners voted to table any action on the budget or setting the tax rate until the last meeting of the month, Dec. 28, which is also the final meeting for commissioners Tony Mussare and Mirabito, both who did not run for re-election.
A presentation by Brooke Wright, Lycoming County tax office chief assessor and tax claim director, explained the importance of conducting a countywide reassessment, something which has not been done since 2004.
"Reassessment is needed when the property values used to make up the tax base are inconsistent, unfair and/or too old to reflect current market trends and changes in the value of real estate," Wright explained at this week's commissioners' meeting.
"Reassessment cannot be used by the county or any other taxing body as a means to collect increased revenue. It is simply a tool to equalize assessments and ensure that, once again, all taxpayers are paying their fair share," she stated in her presentation.
The fears expressed by many of the people in attendance who commented at the meeting, is that reassessment will automatically result in high taxes. This was especially a concern of those who are on fixed incomes.
Not so, argued Commissioners Mirabito and Mussare. There will be some taxes, approximately one-third, that will go up, a third that will go down and a third that will stay the same.
"My job isn't about raising your taxes. My job is to equalize what the values are, right? That's our job," said Mussare.
"When you associate reassessment with taxation, you look at it as something bad. I have to tell you, every year your taxes are being raised by your school districts, by your municipalities, not necessarily by county...and that's the issue. It gets passed on to those people every year. What we need to do is equalize the fair values of the properties," Mussare said.
The issue is that trends in the market have caused property values to become inconsistent and unfair, Wright stated.
For example, a property in McIntyre Township which had an assessed value of $88,130 according to the 2004 reassessment, sold recently for $340,000.
The problem is that the taxes on the property are at the rate 19 years ago of $572.85. If the assessment was based on figures closer to today's market value, estimated taxes the county could collect would be $1,105.
Conversely, a property in Clinton Township that had been assessed at the 2004 market value of $35,990 and recently sold for $24,500, would have taxes reduced from $233.94 to $79.63.
"If you can afford to buy a house for $750,000, you can pay $1,000 a year more in property tax. It's your fair share," Mirabito said.
The cost of reassessment, which Metzger cited as his argument of doing it right now, is substantial.
There are 51,994 taxable parcels in the county pulse 2,091 exempt parcels, for a total number of 54,085 parcels, Wright reported.
The estimated cost, she noted, for the reassessment would be $3.4 million to $4 million with the cost per parcel of $62.86 to $73.96. All properties would be field visited during the process.
If the commissioners decide to move forward with the reassessment, it could start in January next year, finish in June 2026. Value changes would go out in July 2026; informals would be heard from July 1 to Sept. 1 that year, with formal appeals heard from Sept. 1 through Oct. 31. The new values would be effective for the 2027 tax year.
"Although property reassessment if an unpopular topic among taxpayers, it is a necessary process to ensure that each taxpayer is paying their fair share of the tax burden,' Wright stated.
"Moving forward with this project would be the first step the county can take to fix some of the current inequities," she said.
The commissioners invited the public to weigh in on the subject before they are expected to take a vote at their next meeting on whether to proceed with the reassessment.