Monroe aims to answer reassessment questions

Monroe County homeowners are searching for help decoding their new property tax assessments, which are in many cases five to six times higher than they were this year.

It’s the result of the first countywide reassessment in 30 years.

On July 1, the county assessment office mailed out assessment change notices to all 103,000 properties in the county.

The new assessed values will be used to calculate property taxes starting next year. A tax bill is a homeowner’s assessment multiplied by the millage rate set by a school district, township or county.

Until school districts and municipalities finalize their 2020 budgets, it is impossible for anyone to say whether a homeowner’s tax bill will go up or down.

“The unfortunate part of this, and the truth of the matter is, there’s no way to know because your assessed value will be looked at in proportion to all the other properties in Monroe County,” said Loren Speziale, a partner at GrossMcGinley LP, a law firm based in the Lehigh Valley.

Speziale has heard from several Monroe County residents who received their assessment change notices and are wondering what they should do for their next step.

“The general rule of thumb is one-third of the property will see their taxes go down, one-third will stay the same, and one-third will see them increase,” she said.

When a homeowner receives their assessment change notice, they have two options, according to Speziale: do nothing and await their 2020 tax bills, or look into appealing the new assessment.

Homeowners have until Aug. 12 to decide whether they want to appeal their new assessment for 2020. Appeal applications are available on the assessment office website and in person at the office. There is no cost to file an appeal.

If a homeowner decides they want to appeal, they can choose to appear in person before a panel of three county residents, or just submit documents for them to consider.

Speziale said there are several factors to consider when deciding whether to appeal an assessment. The easiest way is to look at comparable homes — either through the portal provided by the county or websites like Zillow.com.

Comparing the 2019 assessment with 2020 isn’t helpful. Before the reassessment, all assessed values were roughly equal to one-quarter of what the county felt the house would sell for on the market. The 2020 assessment is equal to the full market value.

To get an accurate comparison between the 2019 and 2020 assessments, a homeowner would have to multiply their old assessment by four.

The can also contact a real estate appraiser and obtain their own independent appraisal report, which costs several hundred dollars.

Alan Schwarz, a real estate appraiser in Monroe County, says many residents have reached out to him asking if they should obtain their own appraisal. He said he has advised them to wait and see the millage and pay the new rate in 2020. If it’s too high, they can always appeal for 2021.

“I have to explain to them that the millage has to be adjusted downward. So we won’t know that until next June,” Schwarz said.

Schwarz said he expects that when school districts and municipalities finalize tax bills will remain the same or decrease for many Monroe County residents, making an appeal unnecessary. He added that home prices have been on the rise in the area, making it harder to prove that an assessment should be lowered.

Schwarz urges people to use Zillow to at least get a general idea of the value of their home. Homeowners can also use the county website to make sure that their assessment is based on correct information about their home. Assessments can vary based on a home’s square footage and number of bedrooms.

Monroe County Chief Assessor Cindy Treible said appeals are already taking place, and more are coming in by the day. As of Tuesday there were more than 640, however there have been other years when there were more than 2,500 appeals.

“That’s one of the reasons why there’s a reassessment,” she said.

Treible said she is very sympathetic to the residents who don’t know what they will pay in 2020. But her office’s sole responsibility is setting assessments — not setting taxes, collecting them, or even mailing out the bills.

The assessment office is busier than usual with people bringing questions in person and by phone. Treible said if she was able to tell people what their taxes were, she would.

“If we put a tax amount in those notices, it would be an incorrect tax amount. We don’t know what the millage is,” she said.