Pennsylvania is the only state in the country with a base-year property assessment system that does not mandate periodic reassessments. As a result, fifty-four of our 67 counties have not reassessed in twelve years or more, including 10 counties that have not reassessed in more than 45 years! Our property tax system is also considered an outlier nationally with the national Council on State Taxation gradeing Pennsylvania as an “F” among the states (Mississippi the only other “F”).
 
Expert testimony provided at a series of recent policy hearings on our dysfunctional property tax system revealed some startling facts:

• Residents in counties with out-of-date reassessment values pay higher tax rates because the amount of tax revenue general per mill decreases each year—0.6 percent in urban counties and 0.9 percent in rural counties.
• The system produces inconsistencies like similar houses on the same street being taxed at different property values and the value of a single mill ranging from $7.8 million to $13,950, depending on the county.
• Inconsistent assessments create imbalance in the 88 school districts that cross county lines and in the distribution of property tax relief programs (e.g. Property Tax & Rent Rebate).
• There is widespread unfairness as the tax burden shifts onto lower-income residents since they may not have the means to appeal unnecessarily-high property values, but higher-income residents and businesses do. At the same time, large businesses can be targeted for “spot appeals” when school districts feel the business’ taxes are unnecessarily low.
• Finally, the Commonwealth loses out on potential buyers and developers because of our inconsistent and nonuniform tax system.

That is why I will be introducing a bill to bring Pennsylvania in-line with the rest of the country by requiring counties to conduct property reassessments on a uniform five-year cycle as well as enhance the enforcement power of the State Tax Equalization Board. The bill will be the product of input from a variety of stakeholders, including school districts, local governments, professional assessors, commercial and residential real estate specialists, and taxpayers.
 
I hope you will consider joining me in co-sponsoring this piece of legislation.