Assessment letters going out July 1
In these days of instantaneous communication, people are phoning a Washington County office wondering about a piece of snail mail.
The letter so many are anticipating will inform property owners of their assessments and describe the appeals process if they disagree with the bottom line.
“I want to appeal my taxes,” is how one caller phrased her request for information Monday afternoon.
The county’s mailing of more than 120,000 letters Friday will trigger the appeals process.
If those heeding the red-letter message that reads “important Washington County reassessment information enclosed – please open immediately” want to know what the tax levy will be, they’ll have to wait until later this year in the cases of the county and municipality, and next spring for the school district.
State law requires counties, cities, boroughs and townships to enact their annual budgets by Dec. 31 of each year, and property values are to be certified by Nov. 15. School districts’ fiscal years, matching those of the state, operate on a July 1 through June 30 calendar.
The envelope so many Washington County property owners are anticipating doesn’t mention taxes either in the red-letter message or the return address, which is Washington County, 100 W. Beau St., Suite 205 – the tax revenue department. One’s assessment determines how much a person owes under property tax levies yet to be enacted. The assessment notice itself, however, is not a tax bill and it won’t contain information on next year’s tax levy.
Although preliminary property assessments were mailed out in four separate batches earlier this spring in advance of an informal review period, all the assessment notices in the next mailing are to go out countywide Friday, July 1.
Exactly when the post office delivers them is another matter. The letters could be in mailboxes Saturday, July 2, or, because of the Independence Day holiday Monday, they could arrive Tuesday, July 5.
A property owner who wants to appeal his or her tax assessment must complete a form that can be obtained in one of three ways: calling to have a form mailed, stopping by the county office building to pick one up, or printing it from the county’s website. In a conference call Monday afternoon, Chief Assessor Bradley Boni was working on final details regarding the placement of the form on www.washington.pa.us.
Although people can call to obtain the form, the appeal form must be physically returned to the county by Wednesday, Aug. 10, to constitute a filing. The forms can be mailed to Washington County Board of Assessment Appeals, Courthouse Square, 100 W. Beau St., Suite 205, Washington, PA 15301. Requests for an appeal hearing can also be dropped off at the same address between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on business days.
Washington County Recorder of Deeds Debbie Bardella, who is also in charge of the Tax Revenue Department, was hopeful Monday the informal reviews heard by Tyler Technologies Inc. between late March and May ironed out details for many property owners who were unhappy with their preliminary assessment.
“I think the informals actually cleared up a lot of that,” she said, noting the county’s $6.9 million contract with Tyler Technologies of Moraine, Ohio, calls for all assessments to reflect a value of 95 to 110 percent of a property’s value.
Assessment appeals at this level will be heard in the Chapman Building, 351 W. Beau St., Washington, through Oct. 31. Those who are unhappy with the decision of the assessment appeal board will have the opportunity to take an appeal to Washington County Court.
The Washington and McGuffey school districts took Washington County to court in 2008 to force the first reassessment in 35 years. The county commissioners signed a contract with Tyler in 2013 after they ran out of legal options.