CLEARFIELD – Solicitor Kim Kesner announced Tuesday that he’s responded to the appeal filed by the attorneys for David Fox of Lawrence Township in the federal lawsuit against the Clearfield County Commissioners and the Clearfield County Board of Assessment.
Kesner said that Fox filed an appeal of the decision handed down by Clearfield County President Judge Fredric Ammerman, who had dismissed the lawsuit on June 22 of this year. Fox filed the lawsuit on behalf of himself and a group of unidentified concerned citizens, seeking a county-wide property tax reassessment.
Kesner said he supported Ammerman’s decision in which the judge determined that Fox proceeded improperly. Kesner said that Fox was “insufficiently pleading standing” because he listed unnamed persons and also failed to first exhaust the “statutory remedy” of filing an appeal with the board of assessment for his individual property.
Kesner also referenced a 220-page report that was sponsored to examine the property tax situation in Pennsylvania and issued by the state’s Legislative Budget and Finance Committee in September. He said the state’s Supreme Court ruled last year that Allegheny County’s property reassessment system was unconstitutional and unfair to property owners. He said the court faulted the use of a base-year assessment system, which was believed to have violated the uniformity clause in the state’s constitution.
However, Kesner said the LBFC report backs the county’s position regarding the statistical measures calculated by the State Tax Equalization Board (STEB) and used to determine the need of property tax reassessment. He said these measures are ineffective and are not designed with any standards.
Kesner called particular attention to a “very telling” LBFC finding, which indicated that a comprehensive county-wide reassessment does not assure statistical standards for assessments are met. From 1988 to 2008, Kesner said that only 25 percent (14 of 54) of reassessments achieved national standards for uniformity and equity one year later. Further, he said the report indicated most of those that made the standard the first year did not by the third.
Kesner said the county hasn’t conducted a comprehensive property tax reassessment since 1989. He said many have drawn the conclusion that it’s necessary because it has been more than 20 years since the last county-wide reassessment.
“That’s not always the case,” Kesner said. He said it will be “interesting” to see how it “works out” and that he’s anxious to present his case. He said the case is currently in the Commonwealth Court and expected to be on the schedule for argument early next year.