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Lawmaker seeks state help with reassessment

2 min read

A local legislator has asked for a meeting with the state Department of Community and Economic Development with the aim of Washington becoming the pilot county for reassessment legislation recently signed by Gov. Tom Corbett.

The governor signed what was known as Senate Bill 66, and it is now known as Act. 2 of 2013.

In a letter sent late last month to Barry Wickes, director of legislative affairs for DCED, state Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil, wrote, “The ongoing situation regarding the reassessment in Washington County requires our immediate attention.”

Since the state Supreme Court last month nixed the county’s appeal to avoid reassessment, the county commissioners have said they are “reluctantly” seeking proposals from reassessment vendors.

The signing of Act 2 “creates some serious logistical and legal concerns which need to be addressed in a relatively short time frame,” White wrote. “I am formally requesting a meeting to discuss a reassessment pilot program for Washington County. DCED could provide technical, operational and other assistance to ensure the guidelines in the new law are being properly implemented.”

The act, county Solicitor Mary Lyn Drewitz said, requires identifiable standards and contract provisions for reassessment firms and the development of a manual of how to do a reassessment.

Citing an anti-windfall taxing provision in state law, White wrote, “I also want to ensure we are all lockstep in our understanding that the reassessment process should not and cannot be exploited by taxing entities in a way that would result in unlawful property tax increases.”

For more, see Tuesday’s Observer-Reporter.

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