CLARKS SUMMIT - Any taxpayer-funded reassessment of real estate in Lackawanna County would appear to be far off in the future.
The prospects for completion of a countywide reassessment - or the lack thereof - overshadowed next year's proposed 4 percent tax increase during a public hearing Wednesday on majority Commissioners Jim Wansacz and Corey O'Brien's tentative $91.7 million county budget for 2013.
The Democratic commissioners insisted the county cannot afford the $5 million to $8 million it would cost to finish the reassessment process that was started in 2006 but then suspended in 2009. They also made it clear they have little appetite for a reassessment in any case.
"It doesn't make sense to do it," Mr. Wansacz told the handful of citizens at the hearing at the Clarks Summit Borough Building.
After the county officials finished their presentation on the budget, including the proposed tax hike that would add $31 to the average property tax bill next year, Roaring Brook Twp. Supervisor Tony Jordan asked the commissioners about the "constant bleed" of assessed valuation in the county.
He cited an assessment appeals board hearing earlier this year at which 21 of the 28 property owners who sought relief were granted lower assessments. There are $1 million homes in the county that are assessed the same as others worth a fraction of that, he said.
"I think we are coming to the point where it's foolish not to do it," Mr. Jordan said of reassessment.
Aside from the $5 million to $8 million price tag, Mr. O'Brien said senior citizens who have lived in the same home for years without making a significant improvement that would have triggered a revaluation will be hit especially hard by a reassessment.
"If you are a senior citizen or someone who has been in a home for 10 years or more, your taxes are going to go up," Mr. O'Brien said.
Mr. Wansacz questioned whether county property owners would support a 12 to 15 percent tax increase to fund a reassessment that would ultimately lead to higher real estate tax bills for many of them.
"I have a good idea of the answer," he said. "We cannot afford it."
The majority commissioners said they favored waiting for a statewide solution, noting Lackawanna is not the only county wrestling with outdated assessments.
Under the tentative budget, the real estate tax rate would increase 2.42 mills to 57.42 mills. A mill is $1 in tax for each $1,000 of assessed value, meaning the tax bill on a home assessed at the county average of $13,000 would be $746.
The commissioners will hold their final public hearing on the budget today at 6 p.m. at Carbondale City Hall, 1 N. Main St.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com