Not upfront on reassessment
I found a recent letter to the editor by B. Kirk Holman to be slightly skewed.
According to the Pennsylvania General Assembly website, House Bill No. 1696, dealing with the reassessment and introduced by state Rep. Brandon Neuman and others, was approved by the state House of Representatives and then sent to the state Senate. Yes, I agree with Holman that the Senate did make changes to that bill. But what Holman forgot to mention was the bill was then sent back to the House for their approval of the changes. The House then voted to approve the Senate changes with no objection noted on the record by Neuman.
Therefore, Judith Fisher was correct in her Feb. 7 letter stating Neuman approved a bill that was not only an embarrassment, but also an assault on the commonwealth’s constitution, which requires all taxes be uniform. Tom Corbett, then the governor, vetoed that bill.
Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi continually remarks that commissioners contested the reassessment for years until they ran out of options at the appellate level. I find that confusing, since I too read the 2008 affidavit Maggi signed agreeing to do the countywide property reassessment. The commissioners should have been upfront with us and told us they signed onto the reassessment back in 2008, instead of wasting taxpayer money on something they already legally agreed to do in the first place.
Mary Cummins
Avella