Bill to reassess county properties may hit $40M

Mike Wereschagin

May 1, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- A full reassessment of more than 500,000 properties would cost Allegheny County $40 million it doesn't have, said county Controller Mark Patrick Flaherty.

That's about what it cost to conduct the 2001 and 2002 reassessments, according to an audit by Flaherty's predecessor, County Executive Dan Onorato, who used voter anger flamed by those property surveys to gain his office.

The state Supreme Court ruled the county must reassess because it is taxing homes based on their 2002 worth, which is no longer accurate. So many homes have gained or lost value since then that booming neighborhoods pay too little and declining neighborhoods pay too much, the court ruled.

But the county has $19.5 million in the bank, Flaherty said. It might have to raise taxes to pay someone to figure out who's paying too much in taxes.

"We're in a Catch-22 situation," Flaherty said. "They want us to reassess all the properties, but somebody's going to have to pay for that."

Onorato said he is working with county lawyers to find a way to follow court orders without conducting a reassessment.

The county collected $204 million last year in property taxes -- the only major levy county officials can increase. That tax would have to be raised 20 percent to cover a $40 million reassessment.

A cheaper way than sending assessors to every property would be to use sales data to update the 2002 assessments. The county did that for a reassessment in 2005, which Onorato blocked because he said it changed home values too much. It cost $5.7 million, according to the Controller's Office.

But that would rely on the 2002 assessments, which were so inaccurate that 90,000 people appealed.

Politics is a concern. Onorato beat his predecessor, Jim Roddey, by capitalizing on public anger from the 2001 and 2002 reassessments. This ruling comes the year before the governor's race, in which Onorato is expected to run.

"I think property owners in Allegheny County know very well that Dan Onorato has been fighting for them for the last six years, that he hasn't reassessed, that he hasn't raised property taxes," said spokesman Kevin Evanto. "I think they know who's out there defending them."

Supreme Court Justice Max Baer's concurring opinion to the court's order suggested setting a statewide standard of how accurate assessments need to be. That could take the heat off local officials.

"We should not, in the guise of judicial restraint, abdicate our fundamental responsibility to provide a proper framework for the assessment of actual constitutional violations," Baer wrote.

Under Baer's proposal, Allegheny, Westmoreland and 57 other counties would need to reassess, according to state data.

Westmoreland County officials estimate a reassessment could cost as much as $10 million. The county last reassessed in 1972.

"We're in the process of talking to software people and seeking what's out there. We're obviously going to have to do something," said Commissioner Charles Anderson.

Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille wrote in the majority opinion that regulation is best left to the state Legislature.

There's not much chance that'll happen, said state Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, who was County Council's point man on assessment issues before his election to the Senate. Many lawmakers come from counties that haven't reassessed in decades, and "there's not a lot of appetite" among them to force constituents to go through what Allegheny County homeowners experienced.

"The impression I got from other colleagues around the state is, 'If the court's not going to make us do it, we're not going to do it,' " Fontana said. "It just seems like no one's going to step up here."

Mike Wereschagin can be reached at mwereschagin@tribweb.com or 412-320-7900.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0288-34584477