Hearing Scheduled Over Allegheny County Property Assessment Ruling

A hearing dealing with Allegheny County’s tax reassessment issue has been scheduled for June 3.

County chief executive Dan Onorato visited Harrisburg earlier this week after the state Supreme Court's ruling threw out the county’s property assessment system, which is based on values from 2002.

The court ruled that is illegal because there is no timetable for updating the assessments.

"Members of our legislative delegation and I had a positive and productive meeting last evening in Harrisburg," Onorato said on Wednesday. "Families across Pennsylvania are worried that unfair property tax increases will make it even harder to stay in their homes.”

He said, “I hope our elected officials will stand with me to make sure that doesn't happen."

On Tuesday, upon leaving for Harrisburg, Onorato told Channel 11's Vince Sims, "The goal is to spell out exactly what the Supreme Court decision means for this county and how it's going to affect districts, and to say we need legislative relief and we need it immediately."

District 38 Rep. Bill Kortz told Channel 11 News that he worries a statewide reassessment could have a negative impact on some residents.

"Maybe we do it on a regional basis, so we capture several counties at the same time; if we have to do this across the entire state. And it should be uniform. The Supreme Court says it has to be. So now we have to look at how we are going to do this and how much money is it going to cost," Kortz said.

District 20 Rep. Don Walko told Channel 11 that he agrees with Onorato and feels the state should foot the bill.

"First of all, we ought to do what Onorato says and try to get a statewide assessment system. Why should Allegheny County be treated different from Westmoreland or Bucks County? I don't think we should leave it up to litigants," Walko said.

But not everyone is ready to jump on board. District 21 Rep. Dom Costa said he welcomes the meeting with Onorato so that all sides can be discussed.

"There’s benefits to certain things being statewide and there are also pros and cons on both sides, and we have to look at both sides, 'cause again, there are 203 of us up here, plus 50 senators, that have to vote on this," Costa said.

Some of the representatives Channel 11 talked to have their own ideas for a possible solution they want to share with Onorato.

"One thing I’d like to look at is basing assessment value on the purchase price of the home," Walko said.

Last week, the Supreme Court ordered Allegheny County to conduct the reassessments.

Onorato said the order essentially means that Pennsylvania's assessment law now "is going to be dictated on lawyers filing lawsuits and judges dictating what public policy should be," which he called "the worst possible form of government."

The county is also examining the ruling to see if there may be grounds for a federal appeal. Onorato suggested the ruling may violate the state constitution's equal protection clause or the right to due process.

Previous Stories: May 5, 2009: Onorato Appeals To Lawmakers Over Allegheny County Reassessments