County officials: Reassessment had nothing to do with Laurel fiscal problems
The yet-unfinalized reassessment of Fayette County properties had nothing to do with the Laurel Highlands School District’s need to seek court approval to float a $3.6 million bond to cover operating expenses, county officials stressed at Tuesday’s agenda meeting. Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites noted that he was bewildered and concerned to read in a newspaper article that the school district was blaming its fiscal tribulations on tax appeals related to the reassessment.
Specifically in that court petition, Laurel Highlands solicitor Gary J. Frankhouser wrote that, “As a consequence of a county-wide property tax reassessment, numerous taxpayers of the school district filed tax assessment appeals with the Fayette County Tax Assessment Appeals Board and have been awarded reductions in taxes” that cost the school district $1.3 million.
Frankhouser listed Uniontown Mall as one of those property owners, and noted that four other major taxpayers – Wal-Mart, Kmart and a local cemetery – currently have appeals pending.
However, the Uniontown Mall appeal was initiated prior to the commissioners’ year 2000 decision to perform the first countywide reassessment since 1958. The case was finally resolved in court, not by the appeals board, and the other cases are also on appeal to the court after initial rulings by the appeals board.
None of those cases have any direct connection to the reassessment, as property owners in the county won’t be getting final notices of their new values until July 1.
Vicites asked Patti Hall, director of public information for the reassessment project, and James A. Hercik, CPE, the county’s chief assessor, to “clarify” those legal statements. Hall said that she talked to Frankhouser shortly after the story ran and he admitted the wording was inaccurate. She said he also made that point in his subsequent court appearance before Judge Gerald R. Solomon, who granted the school board’s bond request.
“LH (had) claimed that their problem was a result of the reassessment. When I talked to the solicitor, he said that was wrong,” said Hall.
Hercik said he personally met with Laurel Highlands administrators to discuss the misleading passage, which was straightened out for subsequent news accounts.
“The first article was very unfortunate, because it did lead people to believe that their increase in millage (in Laurel Highlands school tax) was a result of our revaluation process,” said Hercik. “We went over that (with them) and clarified all those points.”
Also at Tuesday’s agenda meeting, Hall and Hercik gave an update on where the reassessment project stands. Hall said that Cole Layer Trumble, the firm hired to perform the reassessment completed its round of informal meetings with property owners May 17. She said CLT would turn over its updated data to the county on June 14.
Hercik said the county plans to mail 82,500 final notices of new assessments by June 27. Hall added that property owners are to receive those notices by July 1, and they will have 30 days – or until July 31 – to file formal appeals with the Fayette County Tax Assessment Appeals Board.
Additionally, Hall said that while property owners may see changes to their data on the county revaluation project Web site, they won’t see any updated or changed assessment values until July 1, corresponding to the date that property owners will receive final notices in the mail.
On a separate topic, Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh asked Hercik to explain why some hospitals in Pennsylvania pay taxes on portions of their real estate holdings and others do not.
“If there are hospitals paying taxes, we need to be aware of it,” said Cavanagh.
Hercik said that a series of confusing and county-specific court rulings have created a legal mishmash on this topic, but noted that his office is studying the issue to see how any of the rulings might impact Fayette County.
“It’s not a cut-and-dry thing that if you’re renting office space (as a hospital), you’re taxable,” said Hercik. He noted that such things as the hospital’s mission and its nonprofit status often come into play when making those determinations.
As Hall’s tenure with the county comes to a close, Vicites commended her for a job well done and said she was a tremendous asset in keeping the public well informed as the reassessment evolved over a 2-year period.
“I’m glad that we were able to get you on board for this project,” said Vicites.