Time is running out for property owners in Schuylkill County to file an appeal of their reassessment valuation.
Property owners have until the end of the business day on Monday to file an appeal with the Schuylkill County Tax Assessment Office. You can find an official appeals form at this link. Appeals forms can be hand-delivered to the Assessment Office at Schuylkill County Courthouse or must be postmarked by Aug. 11.
Assessment appeals are being heard at the former Schuylkill Transportation System headquarters at Saint Clair Industrial Park.
Earlier this week, Tim Barr, of Vision Government Solutions, the company Schuylkill County contracted to conduct a court-ordered reassessment, said there have been about 2,000 appeals filed so far.
Barr and the County expect about 5,000 appeals. There were about 1,000 filed in the last two weeks.
Appeals hearings began this past week. Property owners who believe their property reassessment value is wrong bring their case before a three-person auxiliary appeals board.
At an appeals hearing, a property owner has 15 minutes to make their case for a change in their valuation. After making their case, property values can either go up, down, or stay the same.
Property owners have been urged to bring any and all evidence to support their claims of an assessment that’s too high, including an appraisal done in the last three years, recent sales prices for properties in their neighborhood, or evidence that their property is not in average condition.
Barr has said that mass appraisals, which are done during a reassessment, assume that properties are in average condition. Assessments were conducted only on the exterior of a property, so if a property owner has evidence that their interior is not in average condition, or it has a roof in poor condition, or it gets water in the basement, as examples, that evidence should be presented at an appeals hearing.
Barr said property owners likely won’t know the results of their hearing until they’re sent a final determination on the value of their property following all appeals.
If a property owner is not satisfied with the result of their assessment appeal, the case can be taken to Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas.
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