Greater Latrobe School District to gain $2K through property tax appeal settlements

Greater Latrobe School District expects to see an upward bump of a little more than $2,200 in its tax revenue as a result of tax assessment settlements for two residential properties in Unity.

The school board approved settlements of assessment appeals the district filed in Westmoreland County Court, as recommended by consultant Andrews & Price.

District business administrator Dan Watson said the move is the latest in a process the district has followed for more than a decade as it attempts to make up for lost revenue resulting from outdated and undervalued county real estate assessments.

“It allows us to restore some equity,” he said, noting the last county reassessment of properties was in 1972.

It’s the flip side of appeals filed by owners who maintain their property has been assessed at a value that is unfairly high.

Greater Latrobe has focused on contesting assessments for properties that have sold for $500,000 or more, where that figure is substantially more than the assessed value on record, according to Watson.

Each of the properties involved in the latest settlements met that benchmark, he said.

Settlements of such appeals since 2012 have netted the district a gain of about $295,000 in tax revenue, Watson said.

In its most recent budget, the district indicated it expects to collect more than $30.1 million in local real estate tax revenue during the 2023-2024 school year. That’s part of about $64.1 million in total estimated revenue for the budget year.