A month ago we wrote about municipal officials in Lackawanna County in northeast PA urging the Board of County Commissioners to conduct a reassessment, something that has not been done in fifty years come 2018. Now it appears the issue will go in front of the voters in a binding referendum question. Based on the legislative records, the ballot question was approved in the form of a motion by the Commissioners.
The months from now until November would be spent on telling the public about the ballot question, but it would be a bit different in that it would not be conducted by contractors or officials prepping an upcoming revaluation, but rather officials speaking with the public on the aspects of a reassessment and whether it is the right decision for one to be carried out by the County. If officials dead set against conducting a reassessment are in charge of informing the public about a possible reassessment, how objective can the presentation be?
One commissioner dissented on the motion, saying that the Board should have been the one to make the decision; one of the commissioners who voted for it stated “It’s one thing for us to do a 3-mill increase or a 5-mill increase or a 1-mill increase, it’s another thing for us to make a decision that could double someone’s taxes.” The point here is that sure, someone’s taxes could double under a reassessment if their value far outpaced the increase in the taxing body change (and that must be considered for all three taxing bodies: county, municipal, and school) and what happens when millage rates are adjusted to comply with state law.
Based on STEB’s list of common level ratios, Lackawanna County is utilizing a 100% predetermined ratio, meaning a yes vote on conducting a reassessment (or a reassessment undertaken in the County at some point regardless of the vote) would be an update of values and not a change of taxing ratio (for instance, in Washington County’s reassessment they updated the year of value and the taxing ratio from 25% to 100% of market value).
