May 14, 2016 2 min read

When the McGuffey and Washington school districts called for a countywide reassessment to bring property values up to current market values, we were told Washington County would tax at 100 percent of market value as of July 1, 2015.

After speaking to an agent for Tyler Technologies, I asked if, going forward, a home built for $500,000 in 2020 would be assessed based on its price or the value of July 1, 2015. He said it would be based in the 2015 value. I am hoping this is not true. If it is, then future building projects will not reflect taxes on true-market values at the time homes are completed or sold.

To establish “actual” value of property, the county may use “current-year market values” or adopt a base year for market values. Unless the county does a yearly reassessment of all properties, property assessments will be predicated upon base year values which is the last year in which the county reassessed.

This all defeats the belief that property taxation in Pennsylvania is fair.

This current reassessment will help provide more revenues for all our taxing bodies. However, it does not seem fair that new construction will not be assessed on current market value the year of completion, yet adding a swimming pool, a garage or enclosed porch to an existing home changes its assessed value.

Joann Diesel

Washington