Majority commissioners vote to solicit proposals for countywide property reassessment
Jun. 16—Lackawanna County's majority commissioners voted Wednesday to solicit proposals for a countywide property reassessment — which would be the county's first in more than a half century.
Commissioner Jerry Notarianni made the motion to issue a request for proposals seeking firms to potentially conduct the county's first comprehensive reassessment since 1968. Commissioner Debi Domenick seconded the motion, which passed 2-1 with minority Commissioner Chris Chermak voting no.
"I think it's poor timing," Chermak, the board's lone Republican, said during the meeting. "We're still in the middle of a pandemic and now you're going to start that, so I'm a no on that."
Notarianni noted the county would simply put out the RFP asking firms to submit proposals, the first step in a process that could eventually lead to a reassessment. Soliciting proposals wouldn't commit the county to reassess.
"It's over 50 years since it's been done," said Notarianni, a longtime reassessment advocate. "It's time to get at least started to do something about it."
Voicing her support for the RFP, Domenick argued the county "can't keep putting things off under the guise that we're in a pandemic."
Wednesday's vote comes amid a lawsuit seeking a court order to compel a reassessment on the basis of tax equity. The plaintiffs in that case contend the county's outdated assessments have created a disproportionate real estate tax burden that violates the state constitution's Uniformity Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The county's antiquated tax-assessment system has resulted in disparate taxes on similar properties, so some residents pay disproportionately higher taxes than others, the lawsuit claims. The county continues to fight the suit, which remains pending in county court.
By achieving tax fairness, other advocates argue reassessment would incentivize additional development in the county.
Reassessment opponents fear the process will result in higher tax bills for many homeowners, especially older homeowners on fixed incomes. Prohibitively expensive tax bills prompted by a reassessment could cause some to lose their homes, opponents contend.
Notarianni proposed the county begin a reassessment at a June 2016 commissioners meeting, but former commissioners Patrick O'Malley and Laureen Cummings blocked it.
A year later, O'Malley and Cummings voted, with Notarianni opposed, to let voters decide on reassessment via a ballot referendum. A lawsuit succeeded in getting the referendum results declared invalid by a three-judge county court panel, though the referendum remained on the ballot and voters overwhelmingly rejected reassessment.
The ballot questions knocked down by the judges would have authorized the commissioners to borrow up to $13 million to conduct a reassessment, but $13 million would not necessarily be the definite cost. After studying the issue, then county Chief of Staff Andy Wallace told the commissioners in 2017 reassessing Lackawanna's 101,000 or so parcels likely would cost between $5.6 million and $13 million.
Proposals submitted by firms responding to the forthcoming county RFP should give officials an idea of what reassessment would cost county taxpayers.
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Contact the writer: jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141; @jhorvathTT on Twitter.
