Nov 4, 2015 3 min read

Tyler Technologies Inc. and Washington County Tax Revenue Department are planning the first in a series of six public meetings to let residents know what’s in store for them in light of the countywide property reassessment for 6 p.m. Monday in the Washington High School gymnasium.

According to the meetings’ organizers, the purpose of the gatherings is to provide county residents and taxpayers with an update on the status of the reassessment project, to outline a road map of what comes next and to engage in a brief question-and-answer session.

Washington County commissioners in 2013 embarked on a $6.96 million reassessment project because of a court case filed by Washington and McGuffey school districts.

Asked if he plans to attend the meetings, Commission Chairman Larry Maggi perused the schedule for the first time and said tersely Wednesday, “No.”

Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan said, “People are a little nervous about this. There are people who are property owners now who didn’t own property 30 years ago” when the county last reassessed and have never gone through the process.

The county formerly based assessments on 25 percent of a property’s fair market value as of Jan. 1, 1981. Under the new system, the figure is being changed to 100 percent of fair market value as of July 1, 2015. Officials said millage will have to be reduced commensurately.

Tyler employees completed a municipality-by-municipality data collection over the summer, and since then they have been performing valuation analysis using a computer-assisted mass appraisal.

Tyler appraisers have been analyzing local building costs, property sales, commercial income, expense information and other valuation factors to establish preliminary market values. These initial values are then reviewed to check for accuracy and consistency.

In January, Tyler will begin submitting the preliminary values to the chief assessor for review and approval.

This information will be mailed to all property owners beginning in March of next year. These values will first be used to calculate new tax bills starting with the 2017 tax year.

Informal value review meetings will be conducted by Tyler in March, April and May 2016 in the Chapman Building, West Beau and Jefferson Avenue, according to Wesley Graham, project supervisor for Tyler. If a property owner is not satisfied with the results of an informal review, he or she may file a formal appeal with the county tax revenue department.

Property taxes will not be levied on the new assessments until 2017: Jan. 1 for municipalities and the county and July 1 for school districts.

Similar meetings to explain the reassessment process are planned for other locations and times:

• 6 p.m. Nov. 16 in the Bentworth High School auditorium, 75 Bearcat Drive, Bentleyville.

• 5 p.m. Nov. 17 in the second-floor community room of Charleroi High School, 100 Fecsen Drive.

• 7 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Avella Area Junior-Senior High School library, 1000 Avella Road.

• 6 p.m. Dec. 2 in the Fort Cherry High School auditorium, 110 Fort Cherry Road, McDonald.

• 7:15 p.m. Dec. 7 in the library of the Burgettstown School District Elementary Center, 100 Bavington Road.

Additional meetings, as yet unscheduled, will take place in other locations in January.

Those interested in the topic can attend any meeting at a convenient date and time. They do not have to be residents of a particular district or even property owners.