Reassessment has been a fiasco
Close to $7 million was spent and the result is a disaster.
Tyler Associates, which carried out the property reassessment in Washington County, received its money and the county inherited the aftermath of a futile attempt to reassess properties.
Why futile? A statistical base may come close to working in Allegheny County because so many properties are similar, especially with the county’s numerous residential plans. The large number of commercial property sales in Allegheny County provide something of a statistical base.
Not so in Washington County. Our residential and commercial properties are as varied as the county’s residents, especially in its rural areas. Residential and commercial properties are frequently held for years, thus a lack of sales volume that would provide an accurate and dependable statistical base.
Of the many real estate appraisals that were completed for appeals by our office, many were higher than the county’s assessed value. Every appraisal was supported by relative and accurate data. Several of our clients told us they were informed that an appraisal is just a person’s opinion. That statement is inaccurate. An appraisal giving a property’s market value performed by a state licensed real estate appraiser is a well-documented report supported by relevant and pertinent data leading to a final conclusion of market value. It is an opinion, but it is fully supported by the data contained within the report.
Real estate appraisal offices that have years of experience should be able to produce a market value result that is much more accurate than a firm with little to no appraisal experience, and whose employees didn’t even look at the interiors of properties. This then begs the question: Why would the county totally disregard a market value determined by a qualified appraiser and favor the shoot-from-the-hip approach of Tyler Associates?
The primary casualties of this fiasco are the elderly.
Where is the logic? Where was the planning? Where are the county commissioners?
The solution? There isn’t a prime solution, but there must be sensitivity to the elderly and the citizens of Washington County who made and continue to make this county function.
Joseph B. Koval
Washington
Ken Barna
Monongahela
Koval is the owner of Joseph B. Koval Real Estate Appraisals. Barna served as chief tax assessor and tax revenue director for Washington County and is now on the staff of Joseph B. Koval Real Estate Appraisals.