Reassessment could have been avoided
A recent article in the Observer-Reporter, “Washington County questions Clean and Green program changes,” stated that Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi “blamed the reassessment, which the commissioners contested for years until they ran out of options at the appellate level, for ‘throwing this into flux.'” I found that to be an odd statement considering Maggi legally agreed to do the countywide reassessment back in 2008 when he signed his signature onto an affidavit. I discovered it on file at the Washington County Courthouse, as was stated in a recent letter to the editor by Rebecca L. Simpson.
The appeals that kept getting quashed were filed to give the Legislature more time to fix the reassessment process. The only elected officials I witnessed trying to end the current reassessment process were our state representatives, and they messed that up so horribly it was an embarrassment. State Rep. Brandon Neuman co-sponsored a bill that only applied to Washington County. It was not only unfair to the other counties, but extremely offensive to the Constitution of Pennsylvania, which requires that all taxes be uniform.
Had the county commissioners done their due diligence over the years and spread economic development throughout Washington County so all school districts benefitted equally, we would not be having this discussion. Anyone living in the county should be able to recognize the need to rebuild a tax base for the City of Washington and many other areas throughout the county, not just concentrate on a few places.
Judith L. Fisher
Washington
Fisher is a state Democratic committeewoman.