Lackawanna County is in the middle of its first property tax reassessment in 60 years, but some of the county’s commissioners wanted to wait just a little longer.
LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Lawyers representing Lackawanna County lost their last-ditch effort to pause the county’s property tax reassessment when a county judge denied their request for an emergency injunction.
The hearing was in the 11th hour, as the county needs to certify the newly reassessed property values by midnight on Saturday.
Commissioner Bill Gaughan broke away from the other two commissioners on this effort; he did not want the reassessment to be paused.
“If Commissioners Chermak and Sacco were successful today, it would have thrown the entire county and all governments in the county into chaos,” said Commissioner Bill Gaughan (D), Lackawanna County. “Also, it would have cost a one-year pause, could have cost the county, minimum, two and a half million dollars next year.”
In 2022, a group of residents sued the county, saying it was unfair that a reassessment had not been done in decades. As a result of that lawsuit, a judge ordered lackawanna county to complete a reassessment by new year’s day of 2026.
Still, Commissioner Chris Chermak hoped to pause the reassessment for one year to allow property owners to better understand how they will be affected.
“The truth will come out, obviously, when they get their bills in the spring. But I will continue to do everything I can to help these people and keep an open communication between the commissioner’s office and the residents. But, we’ll have to see what happens and how things transpire.”
While the commissioners disagreed on the issue, it’s Patrick Tobin, director of the county assessment office, and his staff who were in limbo.
The judge’s decision on Friday allows Tobin to certify the tax rolls. A hurdle cleared after three and a half years of hard work.
“This has been a long and winding road,” said Patrick Tobin, Lackawanna County Assessment Office Director. “I knew it wasn’t going to be smooth because it’s been 58 years since we have done this, most of the homeowners in Lackawanna County have never been through a reassessment. So, no, I didn’t think it was going to be smooth, but we are finally here after three and a half years.”
There’s nothing ceremonial about certifying the new tax rolls. Tobin will send emails to the 40 municipalities in Lackawanna County so they can start to prepare their tax bills.
And while they meet a deadline, this is not an ending. Piles of paper in Tobin’s office are all the lawsuits that have been filed by property owners unhappy with their reassessment.
Plus, property owners will be able to appeal their assessed values again starting in April.
“So you can appeal every single year, and yes, I encourage that,” said Chermak. “The problem is it’s going to clog up our court system now, it’s going to cost the county a lot of money, it’s going to create a lot of chaos.”