Laurel Highlands School Board votes to consider lawsuit to force property assessment
MetroCreative
Members of the Laurel Highlands School Board voted unanimously to move forward with an intent to pursue a lawsuit to force Fayette County to complete its first property reassessment in over two decades.
“I think the county commissioners need a nudge to get this done, and I think we should be the ones that nudge them because at the end of the day we are their scapegoat,” said board treasurer Randy Raymond. “We are the ones that look bad every year when we raise people’s property taxes because we can’t get through the year without doing it. A reassessment will change that.”
The decision came during a special meeting Wednesday night during which board members, district Superintendent Dr. Jesse Wallace and solicitor Gary Frankouser discussed the potential lawsuit.
Raymond, along with board members Joe D’Andrea, Edward Kolencik, Beverly Beal, Olivia Conway, Marcus DiNunno, William Ellis and Kenneth Meadows voted in favor of the move. Board member Tom Landman was absent from the meeting.
The vote did not authorize filing a lawsuit, rather it indicated the board’s intent to reach out to the other school districts in the county to determine whether they would join in the civil action. There are four other districts – Connellsville, Uniontown, Frazier and Albert Gallatin – located entirely in Fayette County. The bulk of Brownsville Area School District is in Fayette, with a small portion in Washington; Belle Vernon Area and Southmoreland school districts encompass a small portion of Fayette, with the bulk of their students coming from Westmoreland County.
Raymond, who led the charge to consider legal action, said the board will likely raise taxes and have to consider layoffs to make ends meet. He said the closure of schools is also a possibility.
“If we don’t get (the reassessment) done this school will not survive … closing schools – all of those things – will be on the table each and every year,” Raymond.
The theory behind pushing for a countywide reassessment is to fairly value properties that may have increased in value since the last assessment was done in 2001. A higher property value means higher taxes paid to the school district.
Before the 2001 reassessment, the last time the county had completed the process was in 1958.
In 2009, commissioners halted the implementation of another reassessment, the results of which were to be implemented on Jan. 1, 2010. Commissioners at the time pointed out that the market had taken a precipitous downtown, and they wanted to be fair to homeowners who may not be in a position to pay additional property taxes. Commissioners Vince Vicites, who was on the board, indicated at the time that assessed values were set to jump anywhere between 50% and 150%.
According to an article that appeared in the 无毛视频-Standard at the time, the reassessment project took three years and came with a $750,000 price tag. It would have taken property owners from a 2001 base year value to a 2008 one. Findings in the assessment showed a 36% increase in values. About 60% of property owners would’ve seen either a reduction or no change in their tax rate.