Here’s a perfect example of some serious Kool-Aid intoxication: A county in Northeast Pennsylvania recently underwent a property value reassessment, and it appears they’re not connected with reality.
He said he bought his Dallas Township property in 1986 for $270,000. His new assessed value: $1.8 million.
Dewees said there’s no way his 36-acre property would fetch that. “There is absolutely no justification for the raise in value,” he said. Dewees said he’s done little to the 1900 farm house on Goodleigh Road since he purchased it — except for routine maintenance. His old assessed value was the equivalent of $436,200 which means his property value has more than tripled. Dewees said he is filing a formal appeal. “I will take it to the Supreme Court if necessary,” he said.
The appraiser also doesn’t seem technically equipped to do the job properly, either.
PPL’s nuclear power plant in Salem Township is technically top on the list of commercial values, at $248 million. However, the plant is bumped into the second through fourth positions because 21st Century broke it into three $82.6 million parcels.
21st Century officials said the split was necessary because the computer program wasn’t designed to handle numbers that large.
This article in particular highlights the higher end properties, but many ordinary people are being adversely affected by assessments that are too high. Is it any coincidence that an appraiser affiliated with a REAL ESTATE AGENCY did the assessment? The county government is probably not doing to complain because that means more revenue.
What happens when your tax bill triples and you can’t afford the increase?