I must respectfully disagree with the O-R editorial of 7/3/11 which took the position that the recent legislative moratorium on property tax reassessment earned lawmakers applause for their action. I find their efforts not only unconstitutional, in applying only to Washington County (by violating the Uniformity Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution) but also patently unjust in that the law perpetuates the blatant unfairness of property taxes in our county and in our state.
Both Judge Wettick, in Allegheny County and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have held that application of the base year assessment system (as employed in Washington County) results in such disparate treatment of the county’s taxpayers as to again, violate the Uniformity Clause. Accordingly, we have a constitutionally unsound law put in place to avoid coming to terms with a constitutionally unsound practice that happens to be one of the greatest tax inequities of our time.
I would be the first to admit that the finer points of tax assessment reform require some thought and research on the part of the average citizen. The Judge Wettick and Supreme Court opinions are lengthy and difficult enough for a seasoned lawyer to follow. In a nutshell, local Judges, like our own President Judge are compelled to follow the Supreme Court directive. When a taxpayer or taxing body brings an action, the Judge must direct county government to begin reassessment. The Commissioners of numerous counties, including Washington, are waiting for legislative reform or for our Supreme Court to revisit and expand its opinion and establish a test for fair reassessments that will apply equally to all counties. The Supreme Court has hinted it might do so, but believes it is preferable for the general assembly to address fundamental matters of taxation. Our valiant lawmakers prefer to get reelected rather than have their voters receive a reassessment notice that justly values their property. Unconstitutional moratoriums they can deal with, fixing property taxes they cannot.
In the middle of this game of political musical chairs the poor and elderly citizens of Washington County continue to pay property taxes that are too high. Base Year Assessments always discriminate against owners of property in lower value neighborhoods.
There are two well worn arguments against taking the just action of reforming property tax law. Both inflame the public, attempt to throw cost in front of basic equality and are misunderstood. The first is that taxes will go up and municipalities and school districts will receive a windfall. It is true that many assessments will be higher. It is also true, for many less fortunate citizens, assessments will be lower. But before an actual tax increase, the higher assessment will have to be higher than the average county wide increase. If the average County increase is 10% and a property owner’s assessment is only 8% higher, no tax increase. Regarding revenue windfalls, there are already state laws in place to limit municipalities and school districts from unfairly raising taxes after a reassessment. In some jurisdictions, like Allegheny County, the results of reassessment must be revenue neutral. This means that the total amount of money school districts and municipalities collect at current tax rates cannot increase when new assessed values are assigned.
The second misunderstood issue is the cost of reassessment projects to the Counties. We should first ask ourselves whether this expense should be assumed by state government. This would assure uniformity and save money overall by not duplicating services. If the state falls down and punts this responsibility to the counties, there will be significant upfront expenses to put a system in place. Assessment appeals will initially be high. However, once the system is up and running, both costs and legal challenges will decrease.
Other states have bit the bullet and developed equitable taxing plans. Pennsylvania can save time and expenses by studying these systems. What Pennsylvania cannot afford to do is perpetuate an archaic, unjust taxing scheme that violates its own constitution.
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