Editorial: Is lack of reassessment a county problem, or is it Pennsylvania’s fault?
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Pittsburgh Public Schools needs more money.
For school districts, there are few ways to do that. The one consistent revenue stream is property taxes, which means the easiest way to boost income is raising taxes.
But why is that necessary? Yes, the cost of living goes up all the time, but so does the value of real estate. If property taxes are based on that value, is an increase really necessary? Sales tax stays static for years while steadily producing more money.
The difference is assessment. If property taxes were regularly reassessed, the amount of money produced by them would keep pace with needs over time without requiring a substantial increase in the tax rate.
The problem? Pennsylvania does not establish the rules of assessment, as most states do. Instead, that power rests with counties that decide how the taxation game is played in their jurisdiction. They start based on different percentages of property values.
Allegheny County, for example, was 81.1%, but then a lawsuit knocked it down to 63.5% and then 54.5%. The county’s tax rate doesn’t just affect the tax money the county gets. It also becomes the de facto yardstick for municipalities and school districts.
And counties are unwilling to reassess those numbers because commissioners or councils are held responsible by voters. Westmoreland, for example, hasn’t reassessed in more than 50 years. Its numbers are also at a low 16.2% of property value. Taken together, that means more taxes have to be levied to make up the amount of money needed to keep things running.
Pittsburgh Public Schools is addressing its problems by suing Allegheny County to force the issue. It issued a resolution claiming, “The failure to reassess has resulted in higher valued property assessments not reflecting the appreciation in value over time and lower valued property assessments not reflecting the decline in value over time.”
Pennsylvania’s process creates a system in which counties have no incentive to do what is necessary — regular adjustments that are sensible and accessible. To keep their jobs, county leaders ignore reassessment and punt the responsibility for increases or shortfalls to school districts and municipalities.
State Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, is drafting legislation to make regular reassessments a statewide requirement.
The Pittsburgh Public Schools decision to sue is understandable. The district has no choice but to address its issues with Allegheny County.
But given how many other local governments and school districts struggle with the same problem, the state needs to accept its portion of blame, too. It’s just one more part of the ongoing failure to solve property taxation problems.