Property Reassessment Agreement Reached

Allegheny County officials, lawyers representing property owners and Common Pleas Court Judge R. Stanton Wettick reached an agreement this morning to reassess all 575,000 privately owned properties in the county by 2012. Judge Wettick noted that the county's newly submitted plan complies with the state supreme court's decision that found the county's base-year system to be unconstitutional and his order to follow a 4-year rotating assessment plan or offer a new plan that would institute new assessments by 2012. Earlier in the week, county solicitor Michael Wojcik drew the ire of the judge when he offered up a plan that would have delayed properties reassessments until 2013.

Under the new agreement, the county will send notices to property owners within the first quarter of 2010 and will hire an outside contractor by March to help with the reassessment process. Property owner lawyer Robert Junker says they have some concern that the under-staffed and over-burdened Office of Property Assessments won't be able to keep up with the time-line. But he says county administrators have promised to comply and he expects them to keep their word.