Dec 13, 2012 1 min read

Calling the four-year-long Washington County property reassessment case “tortured” and “a classic illustration of technical maneuverings and frivolous delays” by the county commissioners, President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca wrote Thursday that the county must reassess all real estate.

She ordered the county and Washington and McGuffey school districts to “fulfill the obligations” pursuant to a contract they entered into Nov. 25, 2008, via a stipulation and order.

The judge wrote in a 12-page opinion that the county has “clearly intended to frustrate the administration of justice and operations of this commonwealth’s courts.”

Last week, Commonwealth Court quashed the county’s appeal in the reassessment case on a technicality, saying the county was late in filing the appeal. The commissioners have discussed taking their case to the full Commonwealth Court or petitioning the state Supreme Court to hear it, noting this in argument Tuesday before O’Dell Seneca.

“It is as if the county’s appeal was never filed … This case is clearly over,” O’Dell Seneca wrote.

Commission Chairman Larry Maggi could not immediately be reached for comment.

Read more in Friday’s Observer-Reporter.