The final stage of the Schuylkill County property tax reassessment is about to begin.
On Wednesday, Schuylkill County Commissioners approved sending the Official Change of Assessment notices to approximately 92,000 property owners. The notices should arrive on or before July 1.
According to Tim Barr, of Vision Government Solutions, the company conducting the reassessment, the notices will hit the mail in a single batch whether the property is residential or commercial.
These Change of Assessment Notice mailers will have a return address of the Schuylkill County Tax Assessment Office and arrive in a white, windowed mailer.
On Thursday, Coal Region Canary was permitted to sit in on a meeting between Vision Government Solutions and the Tax Assessment Office as the wording and formatting of those notices was finalized.
This is what property owners can expect to see on those Change of Assessment notices when they open their mail:
Old value vs. New value: The notice will show what a property’s value was according to the 1996 reassessment and what it will be (pending an appeal) for the 2026 reassessment. The new value will have a breakdown of the land and building values on each property.
Clean & Green status: If a property is enrolled in the Clean & Green program, that will be noted on this Change of Assessment notice along with the Clean & Green value.
Estimated combined tax impact: In addition to the comparison of the County tax impact, old vs. new, the notice will also include an estimate of the sum of the County, municipal, and school tax impact. The new $20,000 County homestead exclusion will be included in the estimate.
Property owners are likely to see some changes in figures on the official Change of Assessment notice they’re about to receive versus the preliminary notice they got earlier this year.
Barr explains that after approximately 3,400 informal reviews were completed in the last couple months, data changed on some properties. That sometimes affects the value of the property subjected to the informal review and thus – since the reassessment must be revenue neutral – affects the tax impact on all properties, though likely just slighty.
During the informal review process, Barr says his company noticed some clerical errors in the data entry on properties. A coding error affected multiple properties and that, too, will likely affect the value of those properties and the tax impact of all properties.
So, the value and tax impact mailed in the preliminary notices may not match what a property owner is about to see. Some will go up and others will go down, Barr says.
“The goal is to have the probable typical selling price for each property in the county,” he adds.
Filing a Formal Appeal of the Schuylkill County Property Tax Reassessment
Once a property owner receives that official Change of Assessment notice on or before July 1, a 40-day window opens to file a formal appeal.
Appeal forms can be obtained directly at the Tax Assessment Office at Schuylkill County Courthouse. It can also be mailed directly to property owners. And the County plans to have the form available to download on its website once the official Change of Assessment notices hit the mail.
The deadline to file a formal appeal is the end of the day on Monday, Aug. 11. Appeal notices can be hand-delivered to the Tax Assessment Office or sent by mail.
“If you’re going to appeal, do so quickly so the assessment office can start scheduling you right away,” Barr says.
The appeal form will provide space for property owners to indicate which dates they won’t be available for a hearing. But once a date is selected, that’s it. Only under rare circumstances can it be changed.
Failing to appear for a formal appeal will be considered a no-show and a property owner forfeits their right to appeal a board’s decision with the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas.
What Happens at a Formal Appeal?
For anyone that disagrees with the official value included on their Change of Assessment notice, they have a right to file a formal appeal. Unlike the informal reviews that recently concluded, this is the chance to debate property value figures.
Non-value data that’s incorrect about a property can also be presented during a formal appeal, in case it wasn’t during an informal review.
When a property owner files a formal appeal of their official Change of Assessment notice, this is what they can expect after a date for the appeal meeting is scheduled. Appeals will be scheduled in August, September, and October.
Each case will be presented to an auxiliary board that’s been trained to hear a property owner’s case and render a decision based on the information they’ve been provided versus what’s included on the official Change of Assessment notice.
“It’s not a court proceeding. You do not need a lawyer,” Barr says.
The County is assembling six auxiliary boards to hear reassessment appeals. Schuylkill County’s Chief Tax Assessor, Christine Zimmerman, tells The Canary that about eight more people are needed to serve on these boards. People with a construction or real estate background are ideal for sitting on these panels but the County has said in the past that anyone who has the ability to hear information and make a fair decision after weighing all the evidence could be considered.
Barr says property owners can bring an appraisal that’s been done in the last three years to their appeal. He says if a property owner has done their own research on sales in their neighborhood to present at appeal, that’s good, too. Information that could have been presented at an informal appeal, like property data (not values) can also be presented at a formal appeal.
This information can be brought on the day of the appeal or can be sent or dropped off at the Tax Assessment Office at Schuylkill County Courthouse ahead of time. It’ll be kept in a packet at the office until the date of the appeal.
Barr says commercial property owners may want to pay particularly close attention to their Change of Assessment Notices. The reassessed values on their properties may be incorrect due to the lack of access that data collectors had during the initial phases of the reassessment process.
For example, some commercial properties are vacant but data collectors couldn’t tell based on looking at the outside of it whether it’s been vacant for a short or long period of time. That could affect the value. Owners should file an appeal if they believe the information is wrong.
“Absent of that information, we’re going to value it based on its use: retail, store, apartment, warehouse. And that value is probably going to be too high if it’s not currently rented and hasn’t been for a while,” Barr says.
Certifying the Reassessment
Once all appeals have been heard and decisions made on the values of those properties, a new millage rate will be set. Going forward, the County will be taxing properties based on 100% of their assessed value. Previously, they were taxed on 50% of their assessed value.
When preliminary change of assessment notices were sent earlier this year, the County’s adjusted millage for next year was going to be approximately 3.8. That’s likely to change but probably not drastically.
On Nov. 15, the Tax Assessment Office is expected to certify the new values of properties, at the direction of Schuylkill County Commissioners.
The new millage rate goes into effect for County and municipal property taxes in 2026. School property taxes will be calculated on the old millage for the bill sent in the middle of 2026. The millage and new values for school taxes will first be billed in 2027.
Subscribe to Coal Region Canary
Get email updates from Coal Region Canary by becoming a subscriber today. Just enter your email address below to get started!Support Coal Region Canary
Like our reporting and want to support truly local news in Schuylkill County? Your small donations help. For as little as $5, your contribution will allow us to cover more news that directly affects you. Consider donating today by hitting the big yellow button below ...