CLEARFIELD – On Tuesday the Clearfield County Commissioners responded to a recent lawsuit against the commissioners and the County Board of Assessment Appeals.
It was announced last week that the lawsuit, filed by David W. Fox individually and on behalf of a Committee of Concerned Citizens, had been filed. The lawsuit it seeks “a declaration of the defendants’ unconstitutional assessment and taxation of real property … due to a lack of uniformity and fairness in taxation. This action also seeks to have (the court) compel the defendants to conduct a county-wide reassessment of all properties in Clearfield County for taxation purposes.”
The lawsuit claims that Fox’s property is being taxed at a higher percentage of the fair market value than other properties throughout the taxing area.
While each commissioner spoke their own opinion on the subject, they were united against it.
Commissioner Chairman John Sobel gave this statement:
“I want to take this opportunity to reiterate my opposition to doing a tax reassessment in Clearfield County. We simply cannot afford it.
“Counsel for plaintiffs will undoubtedly argue that the same is not relevant to the constitutional issue at hand. However, we deal with relevance in a real-world sense – like how the taxpayers of Clearfield County will pay for reassessment. Reassessment cost about $3.5 million in 1989. I can’t imagine how much it costs now and how we will pay for it without a tax increase.
“Additionally, and just as importantly, the Clifton case did not state that the base year approach to tax reassessment is unconstitutional on its face, just its application in Allegheny County. The Supreme Court states quite clearly that market variables in each individual county in the commonwealth will determine if the base year approach is still permissible. One thing that I believe all of us will agree upon is that Clearfield County is unique. It certainly has a different real estate market than Allegheny County.
“Finally, the Clifton case and Denny Bonavita, editor of the Courier-Express (in a recent editorial) also pointed out that the proper solution is, in the end, a legislative one. In August of last year, the state House passed House Bill 1616, the Property Tax Reassessment Moratorium Act, by a vote of 196-1. This bill puts a stay for a year and one-half on court-ordered reassessments so that our legislature can investigate the matter and hopefully come up with an answer to this important question.
“The bill now sits in the state Senate Appropriations Committee. I would urge all taxpayers to contact their state senator and request that it be sent to the full senate for a vote. It is my understanding that the governor will sign it.
“Clearfield Countians bare a heavy burden of paying for government. Let’s not make it worse by forcing them to pay for another tax increase.”
Commissioner Mark McCracken stated that people are upset that government is becoming more involved in their lives, and that a reassessment might make that belief worse.
“Individual property owners have a due process,” said McCracken. He said they can go through the assessment appeals board. He stated they need to provide factual proof that their home’s assessed value is wrong. McCracken said the average cost of an assessment is between $48 and $65. He stated that Clearfield County has over 66,000 parcels. He stated that a cost not normally looked at are the back-end costs, where people appeal their reassessed values.
“There’s a huge cost to this,” said McCracken. “Now is not the time to do this, especially with the economy.”
Commissioner Joan Robinson-McMillen said that she is opposed to a countywide reassessment. She noted that this would not only affect homes, but also businesses at a time when the county is trying to attract more businesses.
“How does that make us more marketable,” asked McMillen.
