Reassessment crews needed in Washington County
A county-wide reassessment has been under way in Washington County since the end of September, but crews are still in the western, urban parts of the county gathering information.
Wes Graham, senior project supervisor for Tyler Technologies, the Ohio firm retained to complete the reassessment, said it most likely will be late winter or early spring before crews start canvassing the California and Mon Valley areas. Graham said his company already may have started gathering information in those communities by now if he had more crews available.
“We just haven’t had that many applicants,” Graham said. “We have six people in the office right now and we want to hire two more. We have 10 data collectors in the field, but would like to increase that to 18 to 20.”
Graham said the prerequisites for the job are simple: a high school diploma, a valid driver’s license and an insured vehicle.
“And you have to be willing to work in this type of weather. We tell them it’s like the mail person who works in sun, rain, snow, whatever,” Graham said.
Graham said that during the winter months he tries to keep crews together in areas with a concentration of homes if the weather is bad. The jobs will last for at least the next year, as information is gathered about every residential and commercial parcel of land in the county.
“I started out 30 years ago as a data collector. The president of the company started as a data collector. There is room for advancement,” Graham said. “If a person has a knack for this type of business, we’ll ask if they want to be trained as an appraiser.”
Graham said those who are interested must complete a 90-hour training course to become a certified Pennsylvania evaluator. Applications are accepted online at www.tylertech.com/careers, Graham said.
The last reassessment was done in 1981 and data collectors are comparing the information on file with the county with what they observe. The data collectors are going door-to-door, asking residents about their homes and measuring the outside. Residents are notified a week or so before crews arrive in their neighborhoods, as are local police and elected officials.
“We also let them know when we leave, so if someone comes knocking on the door, they know it’s not us,” said Debbie Bardella, the county’s recorder of deeds and the director of the tax revenue office.
Bardella said the idea of the reassessment is not to increase anyone’s taxes, but to keep the system fair.
“The whole thing is about uniformity. I use me as an example. I live in a plan with about 12 houses on the street and it’s the exact same house. None of us has the same assessment for the same house. Some of us pay too much in taxes and others aren’t paying enough,” Bardella said.
Bardella said her office will set the values for the properties, which property owners will have the chance to appeal in 2016, after the assessment is completed. The tax rates will be set by the county commissioners, local municipalities and school districts, which will need to make adjustments so there isn’t a windfall of tax revenue related to the reassessment. Bardella said the county and municipalities are limited to an increase in revenue of no more than 10 percent based on the new assessments, while school districts will be limited to whatever is allowed under Act 1.
“The county says they will stay revenue-neutral,” Bardella said.
Julie Mascia, business manager for the California Area School District, said property owners in her district shouldn’t expect to see a major tax increase.
“We’re not allowed a windfall, the law prohibits it, so we must stay within the state index. It’s averaged about two percent over the last five years,” Mascia said.
Right now, the tax rate in the California Area School District is 91.07 mills, with taxes based on 25 percent of the assessed market value. Mascia said if the county switches to an assessment based on 100 percent of market value, the tax rate must be reduced accordingly, meaning a drop to about 22.8 mills, or $22.80 for each $1,000 of assessed value.
Bardella and Graham said the new assessed values will not be put into place until January 2017.