In an effort to make it easier for Allegheny County residents to challenge their new property assessments, the county has added information on its website on comparable properties used to set values and other tips.
County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who opposed the court-ordered reassessment, announced today that the county website also will have handouts and a PowerPoint presentation available for review. Those items were used at a series of town hall meetings that officials held to help owners prepare their assessment challenges.
Nearly 60,000 formal appeals have been filed.
“All of the sales used in determining comparables have been compiled and are now available online which will help property owners find other comparables if they do not agree with the ones that they have,” Mr. Fitzgerald said in a prepared statement. “We hope that residents will take advantage of this and other information made available through the website.”
Mr. Fitzgerald recommended that property owners go here to find information on how to make a case for a reduced reassessment value, as well as what to expect during an appeal.
Also, this site allows for the reviewing of all property sales between January 2009 and March 2011, used as comparables to set new assessment values.
Mr. Fitzgerald reminded owners who have requested an informal review of their assessment — where assessors can review any mistakes about the characteristics of a property — that they must have that hearing by June 1.
If a hearing has been requested but not scheduled yet, owners should contact the Office of Property Assessment as soon as possible at OPAInformalReview@alleghenycounty.us or calling the assessment call center at 412-350-4600 from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday.
The call center’s hours will be reduced to 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. beginning Monday.