Dec 29, 2016 3 min read

As if walking through a thick fog while trying to shoot a moving target, the municipalities in Washington County have struggled over the past few months to accurately pinpoint what their property tax millage rates should be in 2017.

That was highlighted by Washington City Council’s special meeting Thursday to discuss reopening a budget officials had approved just a few weeks earlier.

The problem, Mayor Scott Putnam noted, is that the city still has many outstanding commercial and residential property assessment appeals weaving their way through the courthouse, which could significantly impact the final assessment figures.

Major shifts in the overall property figures would cause a catastrophic problem for the city that has set its land and building tax rates with the number that was finalized by the Washington County Tax Assessment office in November. And it might only get worse for property owners living in Washington if major commercial landmarks, such as The George Washington hotel and Washington Trust Building, see massive reductions in their assessments, which would cost residents even more.

“There are a whole host of buildings throughout the city that are appealing,” Putnam said last week.

The city’s expected 32.71-mill tax on land – an extremely high number – would cost a property owner whose land is assessed at a mere $30,000 nearly $1,000 in taxes. That figure doesn’t include the 1.59 mills taxed on the building that sits on that highly-taxed land. It also doesn’t include school district or county taxes.

So can that city tax rate on land really be correct?

No one’s really sure, because those outstanding assessments waiting to be heard in court could change the final numbers dramatically.

In Peters Township, officials there have set an overall millage rate at 1.522 mills for this year, but even they are admitting that property owners will probably experience a tax increase in 2018 as assessments fluctuate.

“There will be assessment appeals, particularly commercial assessment appeals, which will have an impact on this (assessment) number,” township manager Paul Lauer said last month. “And what no one knows at this point is how many of these appeals will be filed, or what their impact will be on the aggregate assessment for the community.”

The new tax rates must remain “revenue neutral” so as not to collect a windfall of property tax money after the reassessment, although state law allows municipalities, counties and school districts to generate up to 10 percent in additional revenue over the prior year. That means a community that collected $5 million in property taxes last year can bring in no more than $5.5 million in 2017.

But it is impossible for communities such as Washington and Peters Township, which couldn’t be more different in growth and development, to set an accurate rate without knowing the final assessment figure as appeals continue to roll in.

With all that has gone through Washington County’s reassessment over the past three years, it seems foolish to force boroughs and townships to set their municipal tax rates without having the full picture.

It may be too late, but implementing the assessment rates should be delayed by one year until all the appeals are heard. There are too many variables to just take a shot in the dark.