Jan 21, 2017 2 min read

Some Washington Country residents are about to get the shock of their lives when the bills for the county taxes arrive soon.

After beginning a cursory study of what has transpired with the 2015 market-value assessments that will be used as a basis for taxation on real estate, I can reveal the following:

Although my taxes will increase by 88 percent, some taxpayers will see a higher rate, while others will actually see a decrease. What I can determine so far is that, in all three sections of Canonsburg and North Strabane Township I looked at, the averages for each came out to a 38.8 percent increase, while in Canonsburg’s East End, the rate decreased 16 percent, even though the numbers went up for private homes. The decrease was due to huge dips in taxes owed by the owners of apartments with multiple units. Single dwellings took a hit.

A section of North Strabane near the bridge to Canon-McMillan High School showed an increase of over 25 percent on average. I came across one home that sold in 2012 for $174,000 and is now assessed at $152,000.

We were told that, on average, the assessed values increased tenfold from the values assessed in 1981, but it is not consistent. What little I can see from about 100 homes in the Canonsburg/North Strabane area is that it has an unknown variable where rowhouses that I think are equal in value are not being treated similarly.

As soon as people get their bills in the mail, they will be either pleasantly surprised or angry as hell. This assessment has been worse than the 1960 assessment, which I studied in 1976 in my senior year at Washington & Jefferson College.

Washington County’s commissioners should be ready to answer all the complaints once the bills for 2017 taxes arrive.

Bob Zanakis

Canonsburg