May 31, 2006 By Amy Zalar 3 min read

Fayette County’s chief assessor recently won a writing award and was elected as an officer, both for the statewide assessors organization. James A. Hercik, CPE, who also serves as director of assessments for the county, was elected to the secretary position of the Assessors Association of Pennsylvania and also was selected to receive the Michael M. Chudy Award for the best article submitted to the AAP Journal on Assessment Administration this past year. The election occurred at the annual AAP conference in Hershey.

Hercik said in his elected position in the organization, he will attend statewide meetings with the organization, and will work with state legislators and the county commissioners association to help with legislation. He said the organization is not a lobbyist group but is similar to a “think tank” because members give expertise to legislators. The association is an affiliate of the County Commissioners Association and has 680 members statewide in the 67 counties.

Traditionally, those who are elected secretary serve in that position for one year before moving up to treasurer for one year, then vice president for one year and finally serve as president for one year. Hercik said he is looking forward to the challenge of the position.

Hercik, in the assessment field for the past 29 years and chief assessor for the county since 1988, also holds his assessors license and is a state certified general appraiser. Under his guidance, the county recently began a reassessment that will take effect Jan. 1, 2009. Fayette County undertook the first reassessment in decades several years ago.

While attending the conference, Hercik also conducted a three-hour seminar titled “Reassessment.” Seminars presented by the AAP qualify for required recertification credits for its members. Hercik said about 70 people attended his seminar. He said there is no legislation requiring an updated property assessment, and some counties across the state are in need of updating their assessments.

In receiving the Chudy award, Hercik won for an article titled, “The Assessment Process And Licensing Requirements.” Chudy was the first president of the AAP in 1949 and award is presented to one person at the annual conference.

Hercik was also part of a study group focusing on the valuation of wind farms for local tax purposes. Hercik along with two other chief assessors presented a seminar at the annual County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania conference in Harrisburg on that topic. Fayette County is one of only four counties statewide that have active wind farms producing electricity. Hercik said whether or not to tax the windmills has been an assessment question and it should be made uniform statewide.