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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny County, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending and conforming Article 210 of the Administrative Code entitled “Assessment Standards and Practices” to: comply with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision in Clifton, et al. v. Allegheny County and Pierce, et al. v. Allegheny County by providing a methodology to equalize base year values through periodic, computer assisted, countywide reassessments; phase-in increases to property assessments so as to protect property owners from the undue financial burden of such increases; and to preclude the County and local taxing bodies from obtaining “windfall” property tax revenues as a result of any adjustments to the base year system.
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WHEREAS, the County adopted Ordinance No. 45-05-OR which establishes a base year system; and
WHEREAS, by its decision in Clifton, et al. v. Allegheny County and Pierce, et al. v. Allegheny County, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently invalidated the County's application of its base year system; and
WHEREAS, despite invalidating the County's application of its base year system, the Supreme Court did not invalidate the base year statute; and
WHEREAS, the rationale for invalidating the County's application of its base year system is the High Court's determination that it violates the Uniformity Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution because of significant disparities in the ratio of assessed value to fair market value and because the County's application of its base year system discriminated against poor and low income property owners; and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court reasoned that the disparities in the ratio of assessed value to fair market value and the discrimination against poor and low income property owners are because the County's base year system is an “unadjusted” base year system; and
WHEREAS, the County desires to comply with the Supreme Court's decision and remedy the disparity between assessed value and fair market value and to remedy the discrimination against thousands of poor and low income property owners; and
WHEREAS, the taxpayers of this County have spent millions of dollars for three failed reassessments this decade which have caused significantly and adversely impacted thousands of residential property owners within the County; and
WHEREAS, during this same period of time, numerous counties within the Commonwealth have not conducted reassessments for many years, and have not been ordered to do so, notwithstanding that the disparity between assessed and fair market values, and the discrimination against poor and low income property owners in many of these counties is far more egregious than in Allegheny County; and
WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has taken some note of the foregoing and has under consideration a moratorium on the Supreme Court's decision pending a further review of the Commonwealth's assessment statutes; and
WHEREAS, while a moratorium would spare the County the considerable expense of a reassessment; it would only prolong and worsen the disparities between assessed and fair market value and the discrimination against poor and low income County property owners, many of whom need relief from arbitrarily property assessments in order to keep their homes; and
WHEREAS, County Council has determined that a methodology to adjust its base year values would comply with the Supreme Court's decision in Clifton and Pierce; and
WHEREAS, County Council has determined that an adjusted base year system would alleviate the disparities and discrimination noted aforesaid and would provide much needed property assessment relief to thousands of poor and low income property owners; and
WHEREAS, County Council has determined that an adjusted base year system would be the most prudent, rational and cost effective manner to conduct a countywide reassessment because many millions of dollars have been lost due to the three failed reassessments noted above; because of the possibility that the General Assembly may take some action with respect to reassessments and the millions spent by the County on what may prove to be a needless reassessment would be wasted; and because other counties with more disparate and discriminatory assessment systems are not incurring the expense of a reassessment; and
WHEREAS, the County has a continuing and legitimate interest in protecting its property taxpayers from drastic tax increases due to sudden and precipitous increases in valuation as a result of the performance of a countywide reassessment; and
WHEREAS, County Council has determined that the phase-in of increases in valuation is a prudent and proper means of protecting its property taxpayers from such sudden and precipitous increases in valuation; and
WHEREAS, the County has a continuing and legitimate interest in protecting its property taxpayers from any failure of local taxing bodies to reduce property tax millages to eliminate windfall property tax revenues as a result of a countywide reassessment; and
WHEREAS, it is the judgment of Council that, any windfall derived by the County as a result of a countywide reassessment or revaluation should be returned to the County's taxpayers in the form of an increase in the homestead/farmstead exemption available under the terms of the Homestead Property Exclusion Program Act, 53 P.S. §8581 et. seq.; and
WHEREAS, County Council has determined that requiring the local taxing bodies to disclose the millage rates needed to comply with the State's anti-windfall provisions will aid in protecting the County's property taxpayers from excessive property tax millages; and
WHEREAS, County Council, by this Ordinance, is desirous of amending the Administrative Code provisions governing assessments for the purposes stated aforesaid;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Amendment of Article 210 of the Administrative Code of Allegheny County.
The Administrative Code of Allegheny County, Article 210, entitled “Assessment Standards and Practices,” is hereby amended to read as follows:
§ 5-210.01 Definitions.
A. The following terms, when used in this article or in Articles 205, 207 or 209 of this Administrative Code shall, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, or unless specifically redefined for purposes of a specific chapter, article or section, have the following meanings:
ACTUAL VALUE -- The same as "market value" or "fair market value."
ADMINISTRATIVE CODE -- The administrative code mandated under the Allegheny County Home Rule Charter, Article IV, § 1.4-406, adopted by County Council as Ordinance No. 8, effective June 20, 2000, and all subsequent amendments thereof, which provides a plan of organization, departmental structure and operation of County Government.
APPEALS BOARD -- The Allegheny County Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review created pursuant to § 5-207.01 of the Administrative Code.
APPLICABLE LAWS -- The same as the definition of "laws" set forth in § 5-101.03 of the Administrative Code.
ARITHMETIC MEAN -- A measure of central tendency; the result of adding all the values of a variable and dividing by the number of values.
ASSESSED VALUE -- The value of an object of taxation arrived at by applying the established predetermined ratio to the valuation.
ASSESSMENT -- The same as "assessed value."
ASSESSMENT PROGRESSIVITY (REGRESSIVITY) -- An appraisal bias that high-value properties are appraised higher (or lower) than low-value properties in relation to market value.
ASSESSMENT ROLL -- A list compiled by the Office of Property Assessments in paper or electronic form setting forth all taxable and exempt properties in the County for a tax year.
BASE YEAR -- The year upon which real property market values are based for the most recent Countywide revision of assessment of real property, or other prior year upon which the market value of all real property of the County is based. Real property market values shall be equalized within the County, and any changes by the Appeals Board shall be expressed in terms of such base year values.
BUSINESS DAY -- The same as the definition set forth in § 5-101.03 of the Administrative Code.
CAMA -- Computer assisted mass appraisal.
CATASTROPHIC LOSS -- The same as the definition set forth in § 5-207.09 of the Administrative Code.
CENTRAL TENDENCY -- The tendency of most kinds of data to cluster around some typical or central value such as the mean or median.
CERTIFICATION -- The official declaration of the Chief Assessment Officer of the valuation of all parcels of real property on the assessment rolls of Allegheny County for the use of all taxing bodies within the County for the purpose of levying property taxes.
CHIEF ASSESSMENT OFFICER -- The individual within the Office of Property Assessments who is vested with the responsibilities set forth in § 5-209.05 of the Administrative Code. In the event that the position of Chief Assessment Officer is vacant, the Manager of the Office of Property Assessments shall fulfill the responsibilities until a replacement is confirmed.
COD -- Coefficient of dispersion.
COEFFICIENT OF DISPERSION -- The average deviation of a group of numbers from the median expressed as a percentage of the median. In ratio studies, the term "coefficient of dispersion" shall mean the average percentage deviation from the median ratio.
COMMON LEVEL RATIO -- The ratio of assessed value to current market value used generally in the County as last determined by the State Tax Equalization Board pursuant to the act of June 27, 1947 (P.L. 1046, No. 447), referred to as the State Tax Equalization Board Law, 72 P.S. § 4656.1 et seq.
COST APPROACH -- One of the three recognized methods of valuation under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for determining the actual value of property by calculating the cost to reproduce or replace the improvements made to land less depreciation and all forms of obsolescence.
COUNTYWIDE REVALUATION OR REASSESSMENT -- The setting of the actual value of every object of taxation within the County by the Office of Property Assessments by using the cost approach, the income approach or the sales approach, using a computer-assisted mass appraisal system (CAMA), and implemented in accordance with the standards set forth in the Article 210 of the Administrative Code. [Amended 1-17-2006 by Ord. No. 02-06EN]
ESTABLISHED PREDETERMINED RATIO -- The ratio of assessed value to market value established in § 5-210.03 of this Administrative Code and uniformly applied in determining the assessed value in any year.
FAIR MARKET VALUE -- The same as "market value."
IAAO -- The International Association of Assessing Officers.
INCOME APPROACH -- One of the three recognized methods of valuation provided under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for determining the actual value of property based upon the present value of the projected income produced by the property.
MARKET VALUE -- The price which a purchaser, willing but not obligated to pay, would pay an owner, willing but not obligated to sell, taking into consideration all uses to which the property is adapted and might in reason be applied.
MEAN -- The same as "authentic arithmetic mean."
MEDIAN -- A measure of central tendency. The value of the middle item in an uneven number of items arranged or arrayed according to size; the authentic average of the central items in an even number of items similarly arranged.
METHOD OF VALUATION -- A manner for arriving at the actual value of property required by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
NEIGHBORHOOD - shall mean a geographical aggregation of objects of taxation determined by the Chief Assessment Officer, through the Office of Property Assessments, to have substantially similar characteristics, including rates of change in market value.
OBJECTS OF TAXATION -- All subjects to be valued and assessed and subject to taxation for all county, city, borough, town, township, home rule municipality or school district purposes included within the definition of "real estate" set forth in Section 5020-201(a) of the General County Assessment Law, 72 P.S. § 5020-201(a) (2000) or any successor legislation. "Object of taxation" shall also mean the same as "property."
OFFICE OF PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS -- The County office created and vested with the functions set forth in § 5-209.01 of the Administrative Code.
PRD -- Price-related differential.
PRICE-RELATED DIFFERENTIAL -- The mean divided by the weighted mean. In ratio studies, price-related differentials above 1.03 tend to indicate assessment regressivity and price-related differentials below 0.98 tend to indicate assessment progressivity.
PROGRESSIVITY -- The same as "assessment progressivity."
PROPERTY -- Real estate or real property. "Property" shall also mean the same as the "objects of taxation."
REGRESSIVITY -- The same as "assessment regressivity."
SALES APPROACH -- One of the three recognized methods of valuation provided under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for determining the actual value of property through comparisons with comparable, recently sold properties.
SPOT REASSESSMENT -- The reassessment of a property or properties that is not conducted as part of a Countywide revaluation or reassessment and which creates, sustains or increases disproportionality among properties' assessed values.
TAXING BODY -- Any unit of local government or any school district within Allegheny County possessing the legal power to levy taxes on property.
VALUATION -- The determination of the fair market value of property for the purpose of levying property taxes by all taxing bodies in Allegheny County.
VALUATION DATE -- Shall mean June 30, 2009 for purposes of the countywide reassessment for use in the 2012 tax year; and for subsequent countywide reassessments, shall be the 30th day of June preceding the date of initial certification of a countywide revaluation or reassessment pursuant to Section 5-210.08.
VARIABLE -- An item of observation that can assume various values, such as square feet, sales price or sales ratios.
B. Except as otherwise provided in Subsection A above, the definitions contained in the IAAO's Standard on Ratio Studies or any successor standard published by the IAAO are hereby incorporated in their entirety herein.
§ 5-210.02 Valuation; method of valuation; 2009 base year established.
A. It shall be the duty of the Chief Assessment Officer, through the Office of Property Assessments and its staff of assessors, to rate and value all objects of taxation, whether for County, city, borough, town, township, home rule municipality or school district purposes, according to a base year market value as set forth in § 5-210.04 this Article. The base year for the Countywide reassessment for use in the 2012 tax year shall be 2009 and the base year shall be adjusted periodically thereafter as set forth in Section 5-210.04.
B. In arriving at such value for an object of taxation for the base year, the Chief Assessment Officer, through the Office of Property Assessments and its staff of assessors, shall consider all appropriate relevant factors, including, without limitation, the price at which any property may have sold, but such selling price shall not be controlling. Instead, such selling price, estimated or actual, shall be subject to revision by increase or decrease to accomplish equalization with similar properties within the County.
C. In arriving at the actual value of an object of taxation, the Chief Assessment Officer, through the Office of Property Assessments and its staff of assessors, shall consider the cost approach, the sales approach and the income approach, in conjunction with one another. Value shall be based upon the fee simple value, which shall include the value of the fee simple estate, including the lease fee estate and the leasehold estate as may be applicable. The Chief Assessment Officer, through the Office of Property Assessments and its staff of assessors, shall value all properties within the County to reflect appreciation or depreciation since the prior base year value was established, in accordance with the following provisions:
(1) In making such revisions, the Chief Assessment Officer and Office of Property Assessments shall revise properties on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis, employing a CAMA system that relies upon the sales, cost and income valuation methods in conjunction with one another;
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the Office of Property Assessments and the Chief Assessment Officer shall revise all properties within a neighborhood by the mean change in property values in that neighborhood expressed as a percentage, as calculated by comparing sale prices to assessed values within that neighborhood since its prior Valuation Date, provided that such result is not directly contrary to results obtained through the cost or income valuation methods;
(3) In the event that no sales have been recorded in a given neighborhood since the prior valuation, this shall constitute prima facie evidence that property values in that neighborhood have not changed;
(4) For the Countywide reassessment for use in the 2012 tax year, sales data from 2008 and 2009 shall be used to calculate mean changes in value since the 2002 base year valuation;
(5) As a validity check on any reassessment, the Chief Assessment Officer and Office of Property Assessments shall determine the average market value per square foot of the objects of taxation in each neighborhood and shall reconcile that value with the value per square foot derived from the reassessment for each object of taxation;
(6) To aid in the determination of market value aforesaid, the Office of Property Assessments shall issue data information requests to each owner of an object of taxation within Allegheny County. Said data information request shall be in such form as to assist the Office of Property Assessments and the Chief Assessment Officer in verifying the age, condition, physical characteristics of each object of taxation, its replacement cost, and, if applicable, the income derived therefrom; and
(7) The Office of Property Assessments and the Chief Assessment Officer shall continue the County practice of identifying comparable properties for each object of taxation.
§ 5-210.03 Established predetermined ratio; common level ratio.
The Office of Property Assessments, at the direction of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall assess all objects of taxation within the County at a value based upon 100% of the actual value, subject to base year equalization in years between County-wide reassessments, beginning with the Certification for the 2001 tax year and all succeeding tax years; provided however, that the Chief Assessment Officer through the Office of Property Assessments shall assess all objects of taxation within the County based upon a common level ratio whenever the use of a common level ratio in the County is required in order to conform with the requirements of the State Tax Equalization Law or other successor state laws.
§ 5-210.04 Performance of Countywide reassessment.
The Office of Property Assessments, under the general supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall revise and equalize the valuations of all objects of taxation in the County by increasing or decreasing the same as in its judgment may seem reasonable and appropriate. The valuation shall be performed in accordance with the three methods of valuation (cost approach, income approach, or sales approach) through a computer-assisted mass appraisal system (CAMA) operated in accordance with standards prescribed in § 5-210.05. A Countywide reassessment shall be performed and certified in accordance with the provisions of §5-210.08. This Countywide reassessment shall establish Base Year values as of the Valuation Date. Additional Countywide reassessments shall be performed once every five years thereafter. All Countywide reassessments shall yield a Coefficient of Dispersion of under 15 and a Price Related Differential of not more than 1.03 or less than 0.98.
§ 5-210.05 Operation of CAMA system.
A. The County's CAMA system shall be operated in accordance with reasonable and appropriate standards and practices.
B. The Chief Assessment Officer, as soon as reasonably possible, shall:
(1) Prescribe and modify, as he or she sees fit, the guidelines for use by County assessors in applying the cost approach, sales approach and income approach, as part of the County's CAMA system in performing the valuations;
(2) Prepare, modify and maintain the manuals and other necessary guidelines consistent with reasonable and appropriate standards, reflecting the standard methods and techniques to perpetrate a current inventory of the objects of taxation; and
(3) Establish and modify all other internal policies, practices and procedures to implement any and all aspects of the CAMA system for performing a valuation.
§ 5-210.06 Revisions of assessment roll.
A. The Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall, in the tax years for which there is no Countywide revaluation or reassessment, revise the assessment rolls of the appropriate taxing bodies according to right and equity by correcting errors and by adding thereto any property, improvements or objects of taxation that may have been omitted or any new property, improvements or objects of taxation that may have come into being since the last Countywide revaluation or reassessment. Any property, improvements or object of taxation which may have been omitted shall be made subject to taxation for the period during which said property, improvements or objects of taxation shall have been omitted but in no event to exceed the period of five calendar years preceding the year in which the property, improvements or objects of taxation omitted is first added to the assessment roll. Any such valuations as are made pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be subject to appeal in the same manner as other assessments made pursuant to this act. Taxes levied on any such valuation shall not be made subject to the payment of any interest and penalties otherwise provided by law, except as the same are computed from the date of such correction or additions made pursuant to this section. No bona fide purchaser of any property or subject of taxation without knowledge that the property or object of taxation was omitted from the assessment rolls for purposes of taxation shall be subject to any taxation based upon the additional valuation made pursuant to this section.
B. The Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall also revise assessments and valuations in the tax years for which there is no Countywide revaluation or reassessment by increasing or decreasing the same where the value of the property or objects of taxation assessed or valued has changed by reason of any change of conditions thereon or adjacent thereto or in the vicinity thereof, or for the reason that the property assessed or valued has been subdivided or laid out into a plan of lots of other subdivisions, or for the reason that improvements have been placed thereon or added thereto, or for the reason that any public or other improvement has been made adjacent thereto or in the vicinity thereof, or where, for any other reason whatsoever, the value of the property has changed and it seems to the Chief Assessment Officer necessary and equitable to make a change in the valuation thereof. The Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall also in the tax years between Countywide reassessments or revaluations in all cases where it is apparent that any assessment is not in accord with the generality or uniform standard of assessments, revise and correct the same by increasing or decreasing the same where the value of the property or objects of taxation assessed do not conform to the generality or uniform standard of assessments.
§ 5-210.07 Spot reassessment prohibited.
Neither the Chief Assessment Officer nor the Office of Property Assessments shall engage in the practice of spot reassessment.
§ 5-210.08 Certification of Countywide revaluation or reassessment.
For all Countywide revaluations or reassessments performed after 2006 used to establish property values in the 2012 and subsequent tax years, the following procedure for certification of the same is hereby established:
A. Certification. On or before the 15th day of January of the preceding year, the Chief Assessment Officer shall certify the assessment rolls after first verifying that the Countywide revaluation or reassessment has been performed in accordance with applicable law, unless such day falls on a weekend or holiday day, in which case the certification shall occur on the next business day thereafter.
B. Notice of certification.
(1) Upon completion of the certification, three copies of the certification will be provided to the Chief Executive and County Council. The certification shall include a list of the total value of all property broken down by municipality (and in the case of the City of Pittsburgh by ward) and a list of the total value of all non-tax-exempt property broken down by municipality (and in the case of the City of Pittsburgh by ward).
(2) Upon completion of the certification, the Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall provide copies of the certificate assessment roll for the upcoming Countywide reassessment to each taxing body within the County for their review and use in the preparation of a budget and in the levying of property taxes for the upcoming tax year.
(3) On or before the 15th day of February in the year preceding the implementation of a Countywide revaluation or reassessment, the Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall mail to all owners of objects of taxation within the County, at the change notice address on record with the Office of Property Assessments, a notice of the certified assessed value of the property, unless such day falls on a weekend or holiday day, in which case the mailing of the notice shall occur on the next business day thereafter. In such notice, the Chief Assessment Officer shall inform the owner of the property's valuation on the assessment roll for the current tax year and the property's assessed value on the assessment roll for the upcoming tax year covered by the Countywide revaluation or reassessment. The notice shall further state that any person aggrieved by any change in assessment and any applicable taxing body may appeal such change in assessed value to the Appeals Board.
C. Appeals. All appeals of any assessment shall be filed with the Appeals Board by the 31st day of March in the year preceding the implementation of a Countywide revaluation or reassessment, unless such day falls on a weekend or holiday day, in which case the appeal period shall expire on the next business day thereafter.
D. Disposition by Appeals Board; revision of assessment roll.
(1) The Appeals Board shall oversee the scheduling and resolution of hearings of appeals of assessments for the next Countywide revaluation or reassessment and shall continue to schedule and dispose of all appeals from time to time until all appeals have been heard or otherwise resolved.
(2) All appeals shall be handled by the Appeals Board in accordance with its rules and regulations adopted pursuant to § 5-207.06 of this Administrative Code.
(3) Nothing herein shall prohibit any owner of an object of taxation or taxing body from appealing any assessment in accordance with applicable law.
E. Final establishment of assessment roll for use in year of Countywide revaluation or reassessment.
(1) When the Appeals Board has completed its hearings of assessment appeals to determine the values to be used in the next Countywide revaluation or reassessment and has entered an order of disposition in each case, the Chief Assessment Officer shall direct the Office of Property Assessments to make such changes in the assessment roll for the upcoming Countywide revaluation or reassessment as will conform to such orders. The Appeals Board shall enter orders of dispositions in all appeals on or before the first day of December in the year preceding the implementation of the Countywide revaluation or reassessment.
(2) If the Appeals Board is unable to hear and act upon all appeals prior to the first day of December, the assessment as set forth in the certification for all properties for which appeals have been filed and for which orders of disposition have not been entered by the Appeals Board shall remain in effect for purposes of preparation of a final assessmet roll; provided, however, that such appeals shall be considered to be on-going pursuant to § 5-207.07 (of this Administrative Code) and subject to revision by the Appeals Board as it shall determine after hearing and final disposition of the appeal.
(3) On or before the 15th day of December in the year preceding the implementation of a Countywide revaluation or reassessment, the Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall provide a final and revised assessment roll to all taxing bodies within the County, unless such day falls on a weekend or holiday day, in which case the provision of the assessment roll shall occur on the next business day thereafter, provided that, for the 2009 tax year only:
(a) The Chief Executive has provided for the retention of a qualified expert not otherwise employed by any agency of or municipal authority or government within the County to conduct a detailed study of the existing property assessment system in Allegheny County, with such study to include, but not be limited to, the topics of:
[1] The validity of all factors and variables used in the existing assessment system;
[2] Any inequities that may exist in the existing system;
[3] Whether the existing system meets "accepted assessment standards" and ensures "access to public records regarding assessments," in accordance with Article X, § 1.10-1005, of the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County;
[4] Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the actual effects of the existing system on property owners within the County.
(b) The qualified expert should begin his or her duties no later than February 1, 2008, and shall not be compensated in excess of $50,000 for his or her services.
(c) The final report of the qualified expert retained by the Chief Executive under this subsection shall be delivered to both the Chief Executive and County Council no later than 60 days before the final certification roll is provided to taxing bodies under § 5-210.08E(3) of the Administrative Code of Allegheny County.
(d) Should the report of the qualified expert retained by the Chief Executive under this subsection not be delivered in accordance with the time requirements of this section, copies of the final assessment roll shall not be distributed to taxing bodies under § 5-210.08E(3) until at least 60 days after the date on which such report is delivered.
§ 5-210.09 Certification in non-Countywide revaluation or reassessment tax years.
A. Certification. On or before the 15th day of January of the preceding year, the Chief Assessment Officer shall certify the assessment, unless such day falls on a weekend or holiday day, in which case the certification shall occur on the next business day thereafter.
B. Notice of certification.
(1) Upon certification for a non-Countywide revaluation or reassessment year, the Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall provide copies of the assessment roll to each taxing body within the County for their review and use in the preparation of a budget and in the levying of property taxes for the upcoming tax year. In the certification, the Chief Assessment Officer shall include a statement that the assessment roll has been revised by any appeals and administrative corrections made pursuant to this Administrative Code or revised as deemed necessary and proper to equalize valuations from the base year.
(2) Copies of the certification will be provided to the Chief Executive and County Council. The certification shall include a list of the total value of all property broken down by municipality (and in the case of the City of Pittsburgh by ward) and a list of the total value of all non-tax-exempt property broken down by municipality (and in the case of the City of Pittsburgh by ward).
(3) If the assessed value of an object of taxation is changed from the previous tax year and the owner has not been previously notified of such change, then the Office of Property Assessments, at the direction of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall mail to the owner of such objects of taxation within the County, at the change notice address on record with the Office of Property Assessments, a notice of the change in assessed value. In such notice, the Chief Assessment Officer shall inform the owner of the property's assessed value on the assessment roll for the current tax year and the property's assessed value on the assessment roll for the upcoming tax year. The notice shall further state that any person aggrieved by any change in assessment and any applicable taxing body may appeal such change in assessment to the Appeals Board.
C. Appeals. All appeals of any assessment shall be filed with the Appeals Board by the 31st day of March, unless such day falls on a weekend or holiday day, in which case the appeal period shall expire on the next business day thereafter.
D. Disposition by Appeals Board; revision of assessment roll.
(1) The Appeals Board shall oversee the scheduling and resolution of hearings of assessment appeals to be used for the upcoming non-Countywide revaluation or reassessment tax year and shall continue to schedule and dispose of all appeals from time to time until all appeals have been heard or otherwise resolved.
(2) All appeals shall be handled by the Appeals Board in accordance with its rules and regulations adopted pursuant to § 5-207.06 of this Administrative Code.
(3) Nothing herein shall prohibit any owner of an object of taxation or taxing body from appealing any assessment in accordance with applicable law.
E. Final establishment of assessment roll for use in year of non-Countywide revaluation or reassessment.
(1) When the Appeals Board has completed its hearings of assessment appeals to be used in the upcoming non-Countywide revaluation or reassessment tax year and has entered an order of disposition in each case, the Chief Assessment Officer shall direct the Office of Property Assessments to make such changes in the assessment roll for the upcoming non-Countywide revaluation or reassessment tax year as will conform to such orders. The Appeals Board shall enter orders of dispositions in all appeals on or before the first day of December.
(2) If the Appeals Board is unable to hear and act upon all appeals prior to the first day of December, the assessment as set forth in the certification for all properties for which appeals have been filed and for which orders of disposition have not been entered by the Appeals Board shall remain in effect for purposes of preparation of a final assessment roll; provided, however, that such appeals shall be considered to be on-going pursuant to § 5-207.07 (of this Administrative Code) and subject to revision by the Appeals Board as it shall determine after hearing and final disposition of the appeal.
(3) On or before the 15th day of December, the Office of Property Assessments, at the direction of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall provide a final and revised assessment roll to all taxing bodies within the County for use in the upcoming non-Countywide revaluation or reassessment tax year.
(4) Nothing herein shall prohibit any owner of an object of taxation or taxing body from appealing any valuation in the final and revised assessment roll in accordance with applicable law.
§ 5-210.10 Exemptions from taxation.
Property within the County shall not be subject to taxation by any taxing body if the property qualifies for exemption under Article VIII of the Pennsylvania Constitution, Section 5020-204 of the General County Assessment Law or other applicable laws.
§ 5-210.11 Application for determination of tax-exempt status.
The Chief Assessment Officer, through the Office of Property Assessments, shall receive in the first instance: all applications from a legal or equitable owner to have property declared exempt from taxation; and all applications from a taxing body within which a property formerly determined to be exempt from property taxation is located that the property no longer meets the standards under Article VIII of the Pennsylvania Constitution, Section 5020-204 of the General County Assessment Law or other applicable laws for property tax exemption. The Chief Assessment Officer is directed to adopt reasonable rules and regulations governing the submission and consideration of applications for the grant or removal of property tax-exempt status.
§ 5-210.12 Determination of tax-exempt status.
A. Based upon a review of the application for the grant or removal of tax-exempt status and such other materials and information submitted by the legal or equitable owner or by the taxing body or bodies and after such consultation with legal counsel as deemed necessary and prudent, the Chief Assessment Officer shall make a determination concerning whether the property qualifies or continues to qualify for property tax-exempt status. The staff of the Office of Property Assessments shall provide written notice of the determination of the property's tax-exempt status to the legal or equitable owner of the property and to all taxing bodies within which the property is located.
B. All properties granted tax-exempt status by the Chief Assessment Officer under the provisions of the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act, 10 P.S. § 371 et seq., shall be subjected to a parcel review by the Chief Assessment Officer in accordance with the provisions of 10 P.S. § 375(h) at least once every three years. In the course of the periodic parcel review required by this section, the Chief Assessment Officer shall determine whether each property or any portion thereof continues to qualify for tax-exempt status, and shall forward written notice of this determination to the legal or equitable owner of the property and to all taxing bodies within which the property is located. Determinations made by the Chief Assessment Officer pursuant to the periodic parcel review required by this section shall be subject to the appeal provisions of § 5-210.13.
§ 5-210.13 Appeal of determination of property tax-exempt status.
Any determination of the Chief Assessment Officer concerning whether a property qualifies or continues to qualify for property tax-exempt status may be appealed to the Appeals Board by the legal or equitable owner of the property or by any taxing body within which the property affected by the grant or denial of property tax-exempt status is located.
§ 5-210.14 Adoption of rules concerning catastrophic loss.
The Chief Assessment Officer shall promulgate, as soon as conveniently possible, rules and regulations for use in the consideration of requests for reduction of the valuation of objects of taxation as a result of catastrophic loss.
§ 5-210.15 Adoption of rules concerning incorrect assessments.
The Chief Assessment Officer shall promulgate, as soon as conveniently possible, rules and regulations for use whenever the valuation of any object of taxation is discovered to have been made erroneously because of some factual, mathematical or clerical error.
§ 5-210.16 Special transition rules: certification and appeal deadlines for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 tax years.
A. Use of 2002 County-wide reassessment in 2003 tax year. The 2002 County-wide reassessment performed by the Office of Property Assessments, at the direction of the Chief Assessment Officer, as modified by any appeals and administrative corrections made pursuant to § 5-209.08 of this Administrative Code during the 2002 tax year and thereafter, shall be considered to be and shall be the property values used in the 2003 tax year.
B. 2003 and 2004 tax years: certification; notice; appeals.
(1) Certification. On or before the second day of January in the 2003 and 2004 tax years, respectively, the Chief Assessment Officer shall certify the assessment rolls.
(a) Copies of these assessment rolls will be provided to the Chief Executive and County Council. The rolls shall include a list of the total value of all property broken down by municipality (and in the case of the City of Pittsburgh, by ward) and a list of the total value of all taxable property broken down by municipality (and in the case of the City of Pittsburgh, by ward).
(b) The Chief Executive and County Council shall also, for the 2004 tax year, be provided with a statement from the Chief Assessment Officer that the assessment roll has been revised by any appeals and administrative corrections made pursuant to § 5-209.08 of this Administrative Code; and has been revised as deemed necessary and proper to equalize valuations as of the 2003 base year.
(2) Notice of certification.
(a) Upon certification for the 2003 and 2004 tax years, respectively, the Office of Property Assessments, at the direction of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall provide copies of the assessment roll for the upcoming tax year to each taxing body within the County.
(b) If the value of an object of taxation is changed from the value in the previous tax year and the owner has not been previously notified of such change, then the Office of Property Assessments, at the direction of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall cause to be mailed to the owner of such objects of taxation within the County, at the change notice address on record with the Office of Property Assessments, a notice of the change in valuation. Such notice shall be mailed on before the 31st day of January of the current tax year. In such notice, the Chief Assessment Officer shall inform the owner of the property's valuation on the assessment roll for the previous tax year and the property's valuation on the assessment roll for the current tax year. The notice shall further state that any person aggrieved by any change in valuation and any applicable taxing body may appeal such change in valuation to the Appeals Board.
(3) Appeals of certified valuations. All appeals of certified valuations to be used in the 2003 and 2004 tax years, respectively, shall be filed with the Appeals Board on or before the 30th day of April in the years 2003 and 2004, respectively; provided, however, that if the 30th day of April is not a business day as defined under this Administrative Code, then appeals may be filed until the close of business on the next business day.
C. 2005 tax year: certification; notice; appeals.
(1) Certification.
(a) On or before the tenth day of February in 2004, the Chief Assessment Officer shall certify the assessment rolls for tax year 2005. Copies of these assessment rolls will be provided to the Chief Executive and County Council.
(2) Notice of certification.
(a) Upon certification for the 2005 tax year, the Office of Property Assessments, at the direction of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall provide copies of the assessment roll for the 2005 tax year to each taxing body within the County.
(b) If the value of an object of taxation is changed from the value in the previous tax year and the owner has not been previously notified of such change, then the Office of Property Assessments, at the direction of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall cause to be mailed to the owner of such objects of taxation within the County, at the change notice address on record with the Office of Property Assessments, a notice of the change in valuation. Such notice shall be mailed on or before the first day of March, 2004. In such notice, the Chief Assessment Officer shall inform the owner of the property's valuation on the assessment roll for the previous tax year and the property's valuation on the assessment roll for the current tax year. The notice shall further state that any person aggrieved by any change in valuation and any applicable taxing body may appeal such change in valuation to the Appeals Board.
(3) Appeals of certified valuations. All appeals of certified valuations to be used in the 2005 tax year shall be filed with the Appeals Board on or before the 30th day of April, 2004.
§ 5-210.17 Transitionary provisions related to 2006 only.
A. Certification. Within five days of the passage of this article, the Chief Assessment Officer shall certify the assessment rolls pursuant to § 5-210.09 of this Administrative Code.
B. Notice of certification.
(1) Upon certification, the Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall provide copies of the assessment roll to each taxing body within the County for their review and use in the preparation of a budget and in the levying of property taxes for the upcoming tax year. In the certification, the Chief Assessment Officer shall include a statement that the assessment roll has been revised by any appeals and administrative corrections made pursuant to this Administrative Code.
(2) Copies of the certification will be provided to the Chief Executive and County Council. The certification shall include a list of the total value of all property broken down by municipality (and in the case of the City of Pittsburgh by ward) and a list of the total value of all non-tax-exempt property broken down by municipality (and in the case of the City of Pittsburgh by ward).
(3) Within 14 days after certification, the Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall mail to all owners of objects of taxation within the County, at the change notice address on record with the Office of Property Assessments, a notice of the certified assessed value of the property. In such notice, the Chief Assessment Officer shall inform the owner of the property's valuation on the assessment roll for the 2005 tax year and the property's assessed value on the assessment roll for the 2006 tax year. The notice shall further state that any person aggrieved by any change in assessment and any applicable taxing body may appeal such change in assessed value to the Appeals Board.
C. Appeals. All appeals of any assessment shall be filed with the Appeals Board by the 31st day of March 2006.
D. Disposition by Appeals Board; revision of assessment roll.
(1) The Appeals Board shall oversee the scheduling and resolution of hearings of appeals of assessments for the 2006 tax year and shall continue to schedule and dispose of all appeals from time to time until all appeals have been heard or otherwise resolved.
(2) All appeals shall be handled by the Appeals Board in accordance with its rules and regulations adopted pursuant to § 5-207.06 of this Administrative Code.
(3) Nothing herein shall prohibit any owner of an object of taxation or taxing body from appealing any assessment in accordance with applicable law.
E. Final establishment of assessment roll for use in year of Countywide revaluation or reassessment.
(1) When the Appeals Board has completed its hearings of assessment appeals to determine the values to be used and has entered an order of disposition in each case, the Chief Assessment Officer shall direct the Office of Property Assessments to make such changes in the assessment roll as will conform to such orders. The Appeals Board shall enter orders of dispositions in all appeals on or before the 31st day of December, 2005, or as soon as practicable thereafter.
(2) The Office of Property Assessments, under the supervision of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall provide a final and revised assessment roll to all taxing bodies within the County as soon as practicable after the Appeals Board enters all of the orders of disposition as set forth above.
F. Sunset provision. Unless otherwise extended by ordinance, this § 5-210.17 shall expire as of December 31, 2006.
§5-210.17. Phase-in.
For the Countywide reassessment to be used in the 2012 tax year only, increases in assessed values shall be phased in over a period of three years. Such phase in shall be based on the total percentage by which any object of taxation increased in value from the 2002 base year, with the first ten percentage points of increased value to be certified for the first tax year, the second ten percentage points of increased value to be certified for the second tax year, and the remaining percentage points to be certified for the third tax year.
§5-210.17. 2010 appeals.
For all assessment appeals filed in 2010, the Assessment Board shall, in addition to any other findings, make a written determination of the property's value as of the Valuation Date, and such determination shall serve as the property's valuation for the 2009 base year.
§5-210.18. Anti-windfall.
A. As part of the final establishment of the assessment rolls for use in the year of a countywide revaluation or reassessment, the Chief Assessment Officer, through the Office of Property Assessments, shall, as to each local taxing body within the County that imposes the real property tax, calculate the millage that each such taxing body would need to set in order to ensure revenue neutrality in the tax year following a countywide revaluation or reassessment, and notice thereof shall be sent to each local taxing body and shall be published on the County's real estate website. Said rate shall be the “Revenue-Neutral Millage Rate”.
B. Each local taxing body that receives a notice pursuant to subsection A. of a change in its millage rate that does not implement such a change for use in the year of a countywide reassessment, shall, to the extent its millage rate exceeds its anti-windfall millage rate, provide written public notice, and make the following disclosure in its annual budget and on its property tax bill statements:
“Allegheny County has determined that the millage rate
required to achieve revenue neutrality (the Revenue Neutral Rate) is mills. ______
_____________. The Board of __________ (insert name)
of _____________, (insert name of local taxing body) has
determined to impose an additional___ mills as an additional
tax on your property. This decision means that you are to
pay an additional $_______ over what the County has
determined.”
C. The provisions of this section are specifically enforceable and the County, through the County Solicitor, shall have standing on behalf thereof and/or on behalf of any person aggrieved by any violation hereof to bring suit for the appropriate recourse by reason of any such violation.
D. In the event that the County derives any windfall resulting from any countywide revaluation or reassessment, the County shall increase the County's homestead and farmstead exemptions in order to offset the windfall derived, to the extent permissible under the terms of the Homestead Property Exclusion Program Act, 53 P.S. §8581 et. seq.
Section 2. Depreciating Properties.
The Office of Property Assessments, under the direction of the Chief Assessment Officer, shall reduce assessed values in those neighborhoods that have seen depreciation in property values from 2002 through 2005. These reductions shall become effective for the 2010 tax year. For the purposes of this Section, neighborhoods within the following municipalities shall be deemed to have depreciated by the percentages indicated:
Braddock -16.09
Clairton -1.07
Homestead -9.26
North Braddock -8.99
Wilkinsburg -5.80
In addition, the Chief Assessment Officer shall reduce assessed values for all properties in those neighborhoods within the City of Pittsburgh in which property values depreciated from 2002 through 2005 by a percentage equal to the overall rate of depreciation for each neighborhood.
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.
PRIMARY SPONSOR: COUNCIL MEMBER McCULLOUGH