Carrying out a property reassessment in Allegheny County was a campaign issue in the election for the Office of Chief Executive and for good reason. The county has not reassessed since 2012—not too surprising with Pennsylvania permitting base-year assessments. A lawsuit over the county’s coding of sales used to calculate the common level ratio (CLR), which is used in appeals, has accelerated the decrease in the CLR and is likely to be lower next year. One taxing body in the county might bring a lawsuit to force a reassessment (here, here and here). A state senator reacted with a request not to sue since he will be introducing legislation to require regular reassessments in all counties.
The lawsuit over the CLR led to a downward revision of the 2020 CLR by the State Tax Equalization Board (STEB) from 81.1 to 63.5. In the two years since the CLR was set at 63.6 and 54.5 for this year’s appeals, which have a filing deadline of April 1. To date 2,223 appeals have been filed for the 2024 tax year, with 1,184 (53 percent) filed by owners.
The issue of owner appeal wins and refunds for those victories has prompted Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) to not only indicate it will appeal some decisions to the Board of Viewers but to put the wheels in motion to sue the county to force a reassessment. A resolution introduced at the district’s March 13 meeting states PPS has already refunded “in excess of $10 [million] … with many appeals still pending.”
If approved, PPS’ solicitor would be authorized to initiate a lawsuit and attempt to get other municipalities and school districts involved. PPS did not increase its millage rate for 2024, while 24 districts in Allegheny County did in the 2023-24 budget cycle. When comparing the taxable value on Jan. 12 from the certified assessment roll to the parcel count and values report from March 18, value fell in 29 school districts, ranging from 0.04 percent to 3.19 percent.
Thus far in 2024 neither the Allegheny County chief executive nor any member of County Council has introduced a measure to begin the process of a reassessment. Instead, the council has passed requirements for appeals board members, a timeline for appeals to be resolved and has held a measure to give the body appointment power over the chief assessment officer.
With the General Assembly absent on the issue of mandating regular reassessments, unless the senator follows through with the legislation he mentioned and it becomes law, at this point it looks like the courts might be the branch to do order this yet again.
