It began with confusion and controversy in Allegheny County in 2012. In recent years the movement has swept into Indiana and Washington counties.
It’s called property tax reassessment, and Beaver County may be next to see changes to how residential, commercial, industrial and farm owners are taxed.
Developer Chuck Better recently filed a lawsuit in the Beaver County Court of Common Pleas seeking an order to begin a property reassessment in the county. Beaver County has not had a property reassessment since 1982.
According to the suit filed by Betters, the reassessment would “clear up inequities for the owners of those properties who are having their tax burden subsidized by owners of other properties.”
“The tax system is broke. That’s why I filed the suit,” Betters told the Beaver County Times recently. “If (reassessment) is done properly, I know it will help with development.”
Beaver County commissioners Tomy Amadio, Dennis Nichols and Joe Spanik and chief assessor Michael Kohlman are named as defendants. Spanik and Nichols have since been replaced by Sandie Egley and Daniel Camp III as county commissioners.
Amadio estimates the cost of a property reassessment in Beaver County would be $8 million and would not benefit the majority of residents. There has not been a county property tax increase in eight years.