I think it's rather ironic that today is the day that this story appears in the Post-Gazette, given that today is Uncle Dan's big coming out party for Governor, and much of his platform is based on the fact that property assessments and, therefore, property taxes did not go up during his term as Allegheny County Executive. Given the state of the real estate market, both here and nationwide, I don't know how the new assessments will go. It is likely that most people will have their property assessed at a higher value, thus resulting in higher property taxes. Of course, the good news is that the slots casinos (soon-to-be full-blown casinos) across the state were promised by Uncle Ed to bring lower property taxes. We're still waiting on that, of course, but it was the main selling point for all of those slots parlors. So, will Uncle Dan get out of Allegheny County before the new property assessment? Go vote today and let's see how it turns out.


Allegheny County's reassessment teams prepare property visits
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
By Len Barcousky, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County reassessment crews will spend three to five minutes visiting each of almost 600,000 properties over the next 16 months.

The teams will begin their work June 7, county Manager Jim Flynn said at a reassessment status conference Monday.

Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. presided over the meeting. He is overseeing the court-ordered reassessment, which will include a parcel-by-parcel on-site review.

The county has been divided into four quadrants, and reassessment crews will start their work in the eastern region.

On average, the walk- or drive-by review of each parcel will take about three to five minutes, said Wesley Graham, acting chief property assessment officer.

Mr. Graham is employed by Cole Layer Trumble Co. The county has retained the company to help it collect and analyze the assessment data.

Members of the survey teams will carry county-issued identification tags. They will not have to enter homes. Officials will be notified in each municipality before the crews begin their work, Mr. Flynn said.

The initial survey team will have about 11 members; that number is expected to rise to about 30 people.

The reassessment crews will compare what they see on their visits to the information property owners have provided on questionnaires the county mailed to their homes. They also will have access to aerial and other images provided by Pictometry International Corp.

Owners of about 60 percent of the county's 511,000 residential properties have returned the questionnaires, Mr. Flynn said. Owners of about 17 percent of the county's 61,000 commercial properties also have done so.

The review of all parcels is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2011. Property owners will receive preliminary notice of the new values assigned to their homes and businesses between July and October of next year.

They can request an informal review of their assessments during the last three months of 2011 with formal appeals taking place in early 2012.

Mr. Flynn said the long-delayed reassessment project appears to be on track to be completed by the 2012 deadline accepted by Judge Wettick.

Judge Wettick scheduled the next reassessment conference for 10 a.m. July 8 in the City-County Building.