Just south of Allegheny County, Washington County is in the midst of its first countywide reassessment in thirty years.  We noted in April that taxpayers had begun receiving their preliminary notices in the mail.  We wrote that it would have been beneficial for taxpayers to see an estimate for future millage rates (Washington County is changing from 25% of the 1981 value to 100% of the 2016 value, but still has to comply with state law requirements on revenue neutral rates following a reassessment).

In an article today on a meeting held in Peters Township, it was reported that “The current county rate of 24.9 mills for 2016 will be reduced to 2.36 mills for 2017.”

What does that mean for taxpayers?  Well, if their new assessed value is $100,000, and since the County does not offer a homestead exemption on county taxes, they would pay $236 in property taxes to Washington County.  Taxpayers can take their current assessed value and the current millage rate of 24.9 and compare it to their proposed new assessed value at a millage rate of 2.36 and determine if their taxes are going up, down, or staying the same (at least for county purposes, municipal and school taxes will figure in as well).

Based on a Brief we did earlier this year on counties that reassessed in 2013, Washington County’s rate would be the lowest of all those counties studied, including Allegheny.  On a $100,000 assessment, the County taxes in Allegheny would be $388 (Allegheny offers an $18,000 homestead exemption), about $150 more than the taxes in Washington.  On a $500,000 assessment, the County taxes would be $2,279 and $1,180 respectively, a 50% difference.