For the first time in more than a decade, Allegheny County is preparing to reassess the value of every property in the county \u2014 a process that could change how much many homeowners pay in property taxes.<\/p>\n
A judge has ordered the county to begin a countywide reassessment by 2027 and complete it by 2032, replacing property values that have been in place as the county\u2019s tax base since 2012. The order affects the owners of roughly half a million properties across Allegheny County.<\/p>\n
It is intended to bring greater consistency to a system that has long faced criticism for being antiquated and unfair.<\/p>\n
So what does that mean for you? Will your property\u2019s assessed value go up or down? Could your tax bill change?<\/p>\n
Here are four things you need to know about Allegheny County\u2019s mandated property reassessment.<\/p>\n
The basics: What is a reassessment, and
\nwhy is it needed?<\/p>\n
Property reassessments act as a reset of the values used to calculate property taxes. Allegheny County determines what properties are worth based on current real estate conditions, said Mike Suley, chair of the Allegheny County Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review.<\/p>\n
A property\u2019s assessed value is then used by local taxing bodies \u2014 such as the county, municipalities and school districts \u2014 to calculate a property tax bill.<\/p>\n
Property values change over time, as neighborhoods develop, homes get renovated or deteriorate and real estate prices rise and fall. Suley said that if assessed values stay frozen for years, they can become increasingly disconnected from what the properties actually are worth, which can create an uneven tax system.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the assessments are way out of whack. You can go up and down any street in Allegheny County and see the disparity in the tax bills,\u201d Suley said. \u201cThere are tens of thousands of people right now paying more than they should be paying, and they don\u2019t even know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, Suley explained that two people could live in identical 2,000-square-foot condos in the same building yet face drastically different tax bills. One owner might pay about $8,000 a year while the other pays $16,000, a disparity he said that does not make sense.<\/p>\n
The misconception: Do reassessments guarantee a tax increase?<\/p>\n
Suley said there is a common misconception reassessments are a guaranteed tax increase. He stressed state anti-windfall protections ensure the scale stays balanced.<\/p>\n
Essentially when one thing goes up, another must come down.<\/p>\n
Property taxes are calculated by the value of a property and the tax rate set by each taxing body. Allegheny County pays for county government services, a municipality pays for local government services and the school district pays for public schools.<\/p>\n
The county determines an assessed value of the property. That value is different from what the property might be able to sell for today.<\/p>\n
Under the current system, the county bases assessment on 2012 property values. A state-calculated percent called the \u201ccommon level ratio\u201d is used to compare a county\u2019s older assessed property values with current open-market real estate prices.<\/p>\n
Then, the three different taxing bodies can apply a millage rate to that assessed value.<\/p>\n
A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. So, if a property has an assessed value of $100,000 and the school district\u2019s millage rate is 30 mills, the property owner would owe $3,000 in school property taxes.<\/p>\n