Schuylkill County Spot Assessments
by Ryan Achenbach, Certified Residential Appraiser in Schuylkill County
Schuylkill County has been plagued by the process of spot assessments (AKA Reverse Appeals) on new home purchases. $500,000 lake front in Lake Wynonah or $50,000 semi-detached or row home in a borough, the results have been the same....a dramatic increase in the property taxes of the new buyer that is not uniform with the property taxes of similar houses in the neighborhood that have not sold. The effects damage the entire community.
Obviously, the new buyers are hit with a property tax increase that is not fair and certainly does not meet the uniformity requirements of the state constitution. With the addition of the tax increase, this results in less disposable income to be spent in our local businesses (home improvement stores, restaurants, etc.). This also hurts the broader community. With 6-7 years or so of doing this process, these homes are returning to the market where they have to be sold for lower values due to the tax disparity. Additionally, many homes are not listed or sold at all, or are forced to be listed and sold for less value due to the pending tax increase after the sale. These lower sales or lack of sales deteriorates the values of entire neighborhoods as these become "comparables" for appraisal use (for refinancing, etc.).
When we discuss this in Harrisburg, many politicians and attorneys alike are understandably frustrated in attempting to draft and pass legislation to handle the "poor decisions of school districts in Schuylkill County". Yet again, we are in the dark ages of fairness in the state, as this process is not practiced much anywhere else. The initial windfall of "free income" has come at a terrible price to the community in the long run due to the shortsighted decisions of the school boards. This process has further hampered a struggling economy and real estate market in the area, and revenue has trickled to the point where up to 50% or more is spent on the legal/appraisal fees of the process with little returning to the schools.
Tri-Valley school district has never done this to it's community and standardized testing/graduation rates continue to be near the top of the county. Pine Grove and Blue Mountain school districts have also voted to end the practice. Spot assessments do relatively nothing to plug the massive holes in the local budgets. Thursday, 4/17/2013, we are asking the residents of the Schuylkill Haven school district to attend the school board meeting at 7:00 to stand as a community and demand that the district restore fair taxation to all of the community. The school board represents the constituents of a district, and it is time they understand we will all stand through this economy together, not pitting neighbors against each other or driving people away from our local economy.
You CAN make a difference..........
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