Greene seeks members for board
WAYNESBURG – As property owners in Greene County receive their first look at their 2003 property values and the county prepares for three months of appeal hearings, the county’s Board of Assessment Appeals is looking for interested residents to do their part in the reassessment process. During a meeting Wednesday, the board announced that one appeals board and four auxiliary appeals boards will be formed to handle the larger-than-usual number of assessment appeals precipitated by the countywide reassessment that will be completed this year.
The three county commissioners are the current members of the appeals board, but they decided earlier this year that they did not have the time to listen to all of the appeals related to the reassessment.
According to chief assessor H. John Frazier, people would be needed from August through October to listen to appeals, but board members would not have to listen to appeals eight hours a day, five days a week for three months.
Any Greene County resident 18 and older is eligible to apply for a seat on one of the boards and will be compensated $14 an hour, Frazier said. Those interested should send information or contact the commissioners’ office at 724-852-5223.
Frazier said 23,000 preliminary valuation letters were sent to property owners last month, and more than 1,100 property owners already have met with assessment officials about the values. He said another 1,000 property owners have scheduled appointments to meet with him or others in the office, but he said the response has been mostly favorable to this point.
“No one has been up in arms,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything real negative, except that people don’t like paying property taxes.”
Frazier said property owners who qualified for the Clean and Green program will receive their valuation notices this week, while valuations of industrial and commercial properties are still pending.
Meanwhile, the county has scheduled a meeting for July 11 in Carmichaels to begin discussing the projected future of mineral values in the county over the next 10 years and longer. Frazier said the meeting will cover the Carmichaels Area, Jefferson-Morgan and Southeastern Greene school districts, and all interested school directors and residents from those areas are invited to attend.
The session will begin at 6 p.m. in the Carmichaels Area Junior-Senior High School, he said.
Finally, the board is still discussing whom, if anyone, will be able to access a Web site that contains information on all properties in the county. The commissioners decided early this year not to make the site accessible to the public, but they intimated that they would consider making it available to lawyers, bankers and realtors – at a price.
Frazier suggested the site be offered to those professionals on a trial basis before assessing a fee, but he said the idea will be explored further before it’s brought before the board for approval.