PAR collecting property tax assessment input

The state’s antiquated assessment laws may finally be addressed, thanks to a PA Supreme Court ruling last year.

The court ruled that the base year system of real estate property tax assessment laws, as applied in Allegheny County, violated the Uniformity Clause of the PA Constitution. This prompted the PA Office of General Counsel to offer suggestions for fixing the state’s antiquated assessment laws.

PAR is forming a Presidential Advisory Group (PAG) to provide recommendations to present to the PAR Board of Directors, to a statewide advisory group and to focus future lobbying efforts.  

The court’s decision opens the door to challenge property tax assessments in any county that doesn’t have a uniform or systematic reassessment plan, according to Elizabeth Hensil, PAR’s local affairs specialist.

Property tax assessment issues are common in many communities throughout Pennsylvania for years. The inequities of assessment appeals and lack of regular countywide reassessments have affected real estate sales are similar problems facing many communities.

The Office of General Counsel created an advisory group to review its report and provide input. PAR is a member of this group, along with the PA School Board, PA Bar and PA Boroughs associations, PA State Association of Township Supervisors, County Commissioners Association of PA, Local Government and Legislative Budget and Finance committees, Governor’s Office and State Tax Equalization Board.

Those interested in participating in the PAG should submit resumes and applications to Elizabeth Hensil by June 23. The PAG will require a substantial commitment of time over several months and will include possible trips to PAR as well as conference calls.

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Tags: advisory group, tax assessments

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Association News, Government Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.