Thursday, December 14, 2006
Revelations Come Out in Assessment Trial
Allegheny County’s base year plan is on trial. Taxpayers in communities where values have fallen brought suit against the County, arguing that using 2002 values in perpetuity locks them in at artificially high values while keeping those values in appreciating neighborhoods artificially low. Their suit claims that this violates the uniformity clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution and equal protection under the law.
The testimony yesterday focused on one of the legislators who crafted the base year statute in 1982. That legislator noted that, in his opinion, a base year “treats people as fairly as you can” and presumably better than annual assessments. But, when pressed, he also noted that the base year was a temporary fix and that he did not expect counties in 2006 to be using 1970 values. In fact, of the 16 counties that used a base year approach as of last March, nine had base years set in 1982 or earlier.
If the base year is temporary, and one of the people who crafted the law would not expect a base year to sit still, then why have a base year at all? It would have been interesting to hear his opinion on Allegheny County’s maneuvering to arrive at a base year plan, decided upon only after other plans did not wash.
Then came the admission of the County Manager who said that another reassessment would drive business out of Allegheny County and into neighboring counties that use a base year. But the key point is this: the real problem for Allegheny County that goes unaddressed is the high cost of schools, municipal government, and the County government compared to surrounding counties.
Get the spending down, outsource functions to the private sector, and do whatever it takes to make the County more competitive.
The testimony yesterday focused on one of the legislators who crafted the base year statute in 1982. That legislator noted that, in his opinion, a base year “treats people as fairly as you can” and presumably better than annual assessments. But, when pressed, he also noted that the base year was a temporary fix and that he did not expect counties in 2006 to be using 1970 values. In fact, of the 16 counties that used a base year approach as of last March, nine had base years set in 1982 or earlier.
If the base year is temporary, and one of the people who crafted the law would not expect a base year to sit still, then why have a base year at all? It would have been interesting to hear his opinion on Allegheny County’s maneuvering to arrive at a base year plan, decided upon only after other plans did not wash.
Then came the admission of the County Manager who said that another reassessment would drive business out of Allegheny County and into neighboring counties that use a base year. But the key point is this: the real problem for Allegheny County that goes unaddressed is the high cost of schools, municipal government, and the County government compared to surrounding counties.
Get the spending down, outsource functions to the private sector, and do whatever it takes to make the County more competitive.
