Uniontown school board passes on potential reassessment lawsuit
The Uniontown Area School District will not participate in a potential lawsuit to force the Fayette County commissioners to conduct a reassessment.
“Neither the solicitor nor the administration recommend that we get involved in this lawsuit because it could potentially lose (the school district) money,” UASD Superintendent Dr. Charles Machesky said during Wednesday’s school board meeting.
Talk of the lawsuit was brought up last month during a special meeting of the Laurel Highlands School Board. In a unanimous vote, board members decided to take steps toward asking a judge to compel county officials to reassess property values – an undertaking that hasn’t occurred in over two decades.
During that meeting, several LH school board members expressed intentions to reach out to other county districts to see if officials there would be willing to join in a suit.
On Wednesday, Machesky recommended the board not even put it up to vote, citing too many financial risk factors associated with a potentially drawn out legal battle. Board members took Machesky’s advice and decided not to move forward nor hold additional discussion on the matter.
“We could be spending a lot of money on appeals and ultimately have nothing to show for it,” he said.
Dr. Jesse Wallace, LH superintendent, said he has not heard whether the board plans to move forward with a lawsuit, but did say that he doesn’t believe UASD’s decision not to join the lawsuit will change their board’s position.
The last time Fayette County conducted a property reassessment was in 2000. In 2009, commissioners scuttled the implementation of an updated reassessment that would’ve increased property value assessments by 36%, going from $4.387 billion to $5.967 billion. Commissioners at the time said they made the decision based on several factors, including a downturn in the economy and unfair assessments.
At last month’s meeting, Randy Raymond, a member of Laurel Highlands School Board, explained why he felt the suit was necessary.
“We are the ones that look bad every year when we raise people’s property taxes because we can’t get through the year without doing it. A reassessment will change that.”
Machesky said Wednesday that a tax hike for those who live within UASD is unlikely.
“We have a large percentage of the population that lives within the school district like the elderly, that don’t have students in the school any longer and it’s difficult to keep raising their taxes,” he said.
Over the past 21, the Uniontown Area School District has raised the taxes six times, with the most recent being this current school year where taxes went from 16.64 mills to 17.82.
“That’s pretty effective fiscal management on behalf of the school district …. to not raise taxes 16 out of 21 years, Machesky said.
The school board will decide on a preliminary budget in May before voting on a final budget in
June. All Pennsylvania school districts are required to finalize a budget by June 30.