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An Explanation of the County Assessment Board
Posted 2-24-08
Recently, there has been criticism of how the
Westmoreland County Board of Assessment Appeals is compensated
for its work. It is rather interesting that this issue has come
up now. It was eight years ago that the county began appointing
board members in accordance with state law, meaning members
would serve four-year terms.
Previously, our county had been treating them
like regular employees with no finite term of service. Also, it
was eight years ago that we set board member salaries at $40,000
and have not touched them since then. Their salaries have only
increased with inflation, based on the federal Consumer Price
Index. In addition, board members accrue no sick or vacation
time.
All of this was done with a purpose. It is
important that the Assessment Board has autonomy from the County
Commissioners. In cases where a property owner is in front of
the Assessment Board, we the county could be arguing against
that appeal along with other taxing bodies. Moreover, the
Commissioners do not micromanage that office, and its
relationship with unionized employees is similar to that of the
Row Offices. As a technical matter the Board of Assessment
Appeals hires and fires employees and its Chairperson has a vote
on issues of salaries and wages. These concepts are not unique
to Westmoreland County, but are enumerated in the statutes
governing Third Class counties (like Westmoreland) in
Pennsylvania.
To many readers, the job of the Board of
Assessment Appeals may be a relatively unknown one within the
scope of county government. The Board is ultimately responsible
for determining the assessed value of 187,000 parcels of
property in our county. Their work is done not only for county
government, but also for the 65 municipal governments and the 17
school districts in Westmoreland County. Unlike a Home Rule
county such as Allegheny, our Assessment Board does far more
than simply sit in on hearings. And unlike smaller counties,
like Fayette, the county commissioners are not the Assessment
Board. So comparisons are difficult unless we look at counties
where the responsibilities are the same and the people in those
positions have similar experience. Also, a more comprehensive
analysis should take in to account the total cost of the
assessment function.
Compared to the other Third Class counties and
the 2A Class counties, that are to follow the same governing
guidelines from the County Code as Westmoreland County, we have
the second lowest cost per resident for operating the Assessment
Office, $2.67 (Delaware County is $2.10) and the lowest cost per
parcel $5.26. The overall budget of the office, $986,279, is
second lowest (Lackawanna is $979,585) of the 14 Third Class and
2A counties.
So in no way are we running some bloated costly
operation, and that is what should matter the most. The people
on the Assessment Board are qualified and experienced. They do
their job in an environment that is difficult in the sense that
our base year for assessed values is 1972, and determining
property values when they clearly do not reflect market values
is a challenging task.
As I began this article stating, it is puzzling
that throughout 2007 during a heated commissioners' race that
brought criticism upon virtually everything we do, not a single
word was mentioned about the compensation of our Assessment
Board. When the one individual that in eight years never even
became certified as an assessor is not reappointed, suddenly the
compensation of people with more than 30 years experience each
becomes an issue. However, I am confident that we handle the
operation correctly, compensate fairly, and serve the county in
a cost-effective manner when compared to our peer counties.
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