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An Ordinance of the Allegheny County Council providing for facilitated appeals of property valuations certified for the 2006 tax year.
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WHEREAS, the members of County Council recognize that filing and attending a property tax appeal hearing can be a time consuming, stressful and difficult process for all citizens, and that this is particularly concerning for the property owners who have been party to appeals based on recent sales prices since the last reassessment in 2002; and
WHEREAS, the members of County Council also recognize that many of these property owners are citizens for whom downtown Pittsburgh is difficult, expensive and time consuming to reach; and
WHEREAS, the members of the County Council also recognize that there is a shortage of parking in downtown Pittsburgh; and
WHEREAS, the members of the County Council desire to make reasonable and inexpensive accommodations to better allow taxpayers who were adversely affected by the appeal process since 2002 to assert their right to appeal their property tax assessments;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review shall, no later than November 30, 2005, establish a policy of conducting as many appeal hearings as is practicable in locales outside of Downtown Pittsburgh, for such appeals as are filed by all appellants, including taxpayers whose assessments were adjusted as a result of recent sales prices through the appeal process since 2002. The following shall be included in said policy:
1. The County, through the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review and/or the Office of Property Assessment, shall, in addition to the downtown location, establish regional appeal hearing locations on an as needed basis as determined by the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review and/or the Office of Property Assessments in at the County's Lexington office and each of the Kane Regional Centers to allow for regional property tax appeal hearings.
SECTION 2.
The Office of Property Assessment shall notify all parties who may have an interest in properties for which assessments were adjusted based upon recent sales prices as a result of appeal verdicts for tax years 2002, 2003, 2004 or 2005 of the requirements of this Ordinance. Such notice shall be in writing, shall include information sufficient to enable the interested parties to contact the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review for more information on the policies required by this Ordinance, and, for property owners, shall be mailed to the change notice address on record with the Office of Property Assessments. The notice required under this section shall be mailed separately from the notices of certified assessed values for the owners' properties required under §210.17(B)(3) of the Administrative Code of Allegheny County.
SECTION 3. Severability. If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.
SECTION 4. Repealer. Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Ordinance.