Allegheny County Assessment Appeal

[Michael D.]

I own a 9-unit building in Millvale, PA and just got a notice that the school district is appealing the assessed value in order to extract additional tax revenue from me for 2013.

Can any of you provide any advice on how to deal with this and what evidence to present?

[Steve Babiak]

In Pennsylvania, any party that has an interest (either pays or receives the taxes) can initiate a property tax appeal. The result of that appeal is allowed to go either up or down, regardless of who initiated the appeal. There is usually some Board that will hold a brief hearing on the appeal, where both sides (paying and receiving) are allowed to attend and allowed to have representation (an attorney or appraiser) attending as well. EDIT: One thing to add is that even though in your case it is the School District initiating the appeal, their friends from the county and the local municipality are also allowed to participate, and might help out the School District since they all benefit if your assessment rises. Also, there is something called the "common level ratio" (CLR) that is to be applied in establishing the FMV based on the assessed value (and also gets used in going from FMV to come to an assessed value); this factor varies by county and by year - see this link:

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/realty_transfer_tax/11417/common_level_ratios/580584

Take the assessed value, multiply by the CLR, and you get the FMV. Take the FMV, divide by CLR, and that is what the assessed amount should be.

END EDIT

A recent appraisal is the strongest evidence in these matters. Next would be showing recent comparable sales (unlikely for the type of property you described, but useful to know for those with a SFR house). There will be some time period set on what they consider recent for these comparables. They will do a brain-dead extrapolation of value based on square footage. you will want to see that land value gets considered to your advantage in this (a comparable similar in construction and building size but with a larger lot will have more value in the land, so the dollar per sq ft for the structure should be a bit less).

I would also check the county records to see if any other appeals are being won or lost, and try to contact those property owners to see how their experience went.

One other thing to consider is that there are many firms out there who offer to appeal taxes for property owners promising a reduction (from which they derive a percentage commission based on reduction as their compensation), or charge no fee if no reduction happens. Try to find one of these firms and see if they will offer you a consultation.