Scranton City Council asked Lackawanna County officials in March to conduct an eligibility review of all tax-exempt properties in the city.
Six weeks later, the county's response remains the same, regardless of council formalizing the request in the form of a resolution, county solicitor Don Frederickson said.
"We have reviewed it, and basically that is not the job or the function of the assessor's office," he said Tuesday.
The council will likely take final action Thursday on a resolution asking the county commissioners to task the Office of Assessment and Appeals with immediate review of all nonprofits with tax-exempt real estate in the city to verify whether they qualify for the property tax breaks they receive.
Real estate exempt from property taxes makes up almost 34 percent of the total assessed value of city property, or $199 million out of $594 million, according to the resolution.
Mr. Frederickson said the council sent a letter to the commissioners on March 22 asking for a review.
The onus belongs to a taxing body - such as a municipality or a school district - to conduct its own investigation, he said in an April 9 response letter. The taxing body then may file a challenge of tax exemption, if warranted, with the county Board of Assessment Appeals.
It is not a responsibility of the assessor's office to "go out and find violators," Mr. Frederickson said.
"In other words, if the city thinks a nonprofit is not really a nonprofit or doesn't qualify for the exemption, it has to bring an appeal before the board," he said. "The board will then hold a hearing where the city will have to present evidence to show us they are not in fact a nonprofit."
He said there is also a practical reason the assessor's office could not perform the type of review requested by the council - it lacks the manpower.
"It would require the assessor's office to work nonstop and do nothing else," Mr. Frederickson said. "To review the status of every nonprofit in the city would probably take three years."
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com