The Lycoming County commissioners approved an agreement with Tyler Technology for appraisal services, which is the first step in the process of reassessing county properties. The cost for these services is $3,484,620.

Speaking briefly after their meeting this week, Commissioner Scott Metzger said that educating the public on the process will be key.

Tyler Technology should be coming in the next month or two to set up their offices now that the contract has been signed, said Brooke Wright, the county’s chief assessor.

“Data collection is looking to start probably in September of 2024,” Wright said.

“They will have data collectors going to properties to take a picture of the house; to measure the house; and if anybody’s home they’ll ask questions about room count, bathroom count…it’s just to take up-to-date pictures, do measurements of the house from the outside and make sure the information is all correct before they plug it into the system and create cost tables,” Wright said.

The data collectors will all have identification badges and the company they work for notifies the local or state police departments that they are going to be in a specific area.

The whole reassessment process should take about three years to complete, wrapping up in 2027. There are almost 55,000 parcels in the county that have to be reassessed, plus, Wright noted, bad weather could be a factor.

Wright, like Metzger, feels that educating the public is key in the process going smoothly.

“I know the company will have a web page to educate homeowners and we will be doing outreach meetings,” she said.

The important thing to stress, according to Wright, is that even if the value or your property goes up, the millage has to come down.

“That’s the biggest thing I think I’ve seen is people don’t understand that the millage has to come down,” she said, which she explained is by law.

When reassessment was approved by the former board of commissioners at the end of last year, they stressed that it was about the “value of parcels” and “being taxed fairly.”

In other business, the commissioners approved an agreement with Computer Information Systems for new CAD (computer-aided dispatch) system software in the amount of $452,144 for the Public Safety Department. The monies for this will come from 911 funds.

Several agenda items that were approved were for the Resource Management Services Department and will be paid for with funds generated by the landfill and transfer station. These items include the purchase of equipment required for software updates for CAT equipment from Sitech in the amount of $45,004; the purchase of a pump from Cleveland Brothers in the amount of $45,500; an agreement with Dell for software support at $195 per hour; repair purchase of $15,709 from Highway Equipment to reseal the hammer/lower tool brushing and polishing pistol for the Hammer 2004; another repair purchase from Highway Equipment in the amount of $13,553; and an agreement with Highway Equipment & Supply Company in the amount of $12,500 per month with a $1,000 delivery and pick-up fee to rent a loader while the RMS loader is getting a new transmission.

Under personnel, the commissioners approved the following full-time replacements: Michaela Allen, Jonathan Hamm and Isaiah Gingerich, correctional officers at the prison, $20 per hour; Jody Butter, resident supervisor I at the Pre-Release Center, $18.64 per hour; Shanean Edmonds, procurement and grant officer in Financial Management, $42,936 per year; and Emmalyn Gillen, agriculture conservation technician at the Conservation District, $47,989 per year.

Part-time replacements hired are: Damian Doane and Casey Shay, correctional officers at the prison, $20 per hour; and two special detectives at the DUI Center, each at $19.36 per hour.

Other items receiving the commissioners’ approval were: notice of intent to apply for a 2024 election security grant from the PA Department of State for $3,602; the purchase of 150,000 sheets of ballot stock from NPC for 2025 elections in the amount of $10,335; renewal of a contract with Sirius Computer Solutions for $24,061; and the PCCD indigent defense grant program for the Public Defender in the amount of $97,192.

The next commissioners meeting will be at 10 a.m. June 6 in the Commissioners’ Board Room, 1st floor, Executive Plaza 330 Pine St. Due to the commissioners’ offices being moved to Third Street Plaza, there will be no meeting on May 30.