Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – Warren County hasn’t had a property reassessment since 1989.
That is about to change, however, as the county adopted a tentative schedule for reassessment during July 28’s Commissioners’ meeting.
So what exactly does property reassessment mean?
Quite simply, real estate taxes are calculated for each property, based upon the appraised Fair Market Value at a given point in time (base year). This base year is used for assessments each year or until a new base year is established by another county-wide reassessment.
That includes taxes levied by the county, local municipalities, and school districts.
Each of those entities sets its own property tax rate, which is then applied to the assessed value of a property to calculate tax bills.
“The most fundamental thing is the county does not increase its revenue through a reassessment,” said Warren County Commissioner Jeff Eggleston. “Essentially it’s just bringing it all current, making sure every property is paying the right amount of taxes based on the value of their property.”
Warren County isn’t the only county in the region that is long overdue for reassessment. Clarion County is planning its first reassessment since 1975, while Venango County hasn’t had one since 1960.
Because a reassessment hasn’t been done in over 30 years, there will be a lot to unpack.
“Properties that might have been in good shape in 1989 are in bad shape now,” Eggleston said. “Entire neighborhoods change. Property value in other neighborhoods increases. There are tons of changes that put the properties into ratios that are out of whack.”
Eggleston also explained that reassessment has to be uniform across the county.
“State law requires it to be uniform,” Eggleston said. “You have to do the whole thing, not just a specific region, to bring it up to date. A lot of people use ⅓, ⅓, ⅓ ratio, but really, it’s hard to say how everyone’s taxes are going to shake out.”
And reassessment doesn’t mean your property taxes will go up.
“There’s no guarantee if your taxes will go up or down,” Eggleston said. “Some people are paying less, some people are paying more, some are paying exactly what they should be.”
That discrepancy makes development a trick process.
“When those taxes are out of whack, it makes development difficult,” noted Eggleston. “You’re trying to work on your property and the taxes are too high. Then you get into the whole ratio of the system. You have commercial properties that because the ratio is out of whack, can appeal and get a greater level of discount than the average homeowner. It’s really about fairness.”
And market conditions are taken into account.
“One of the things I hear is that property values are really high,” Eggleston said. “This idea that everybody is going to pay more, that’s just not true, because it all evens out. We can’t get more money out of the system. All the properties will be based on market conditions. The increase in the market is factored into the equation.
“Whether it’s done today or five years ago, the current market forces will be factored into the equation. To be honest, that’s why it needs to happen every seven years or so. You have to bring it current.”
