Lycoming County residents could see their property taxes adjusted in four years as new assessed values take effect.
Taxes could go up, down or stay about the same depending on new values developed in the county’s reassessment.
“Taxes normally go up for a third, a third go down and a third stay the same,” county’s chief assessor Brooke Wright said.
The county commissioners voted May 23 to hire Texas-based Tyler Technologies to conduct new appraisals of about 55,000 parcels of land. The reassessment is the first in two decades.
The county will pay Tyler $3,484,620. The money will come out of the general fund over the next three years.
Tyler plans to begin in September.
Commissioners Tony Mussare and Richard Mirabito, who left office in January, voted Dec. 28 to approve the reassessment over the objection of Commissioner Scott Metzger, who’s still on the board of commissioners.
Current county assessed values are based on 2004 values set by the previous reassessment.
“It's been 20 years now,” Wright said. “There's a lack of uniformity in the county and the values of the properties need to be brought up to today's value.”
The county has lost more than $550,000 in revenue the past five years as property owners appealed values, according to data collected by the county’s assessment office. Most were commercial appeals.
New property values will go into effect in 2028. Proposed values will be mailed to property owners in March 2027. Owners can dispute findings informally first, then file formal appeals after final value notices are issued in July 2027.
“I will mail out the formal notices, and we will have appeals up to the end of October (2027). If anybody decides they want to dispute their value and go to a formal appeal,” Wright said.
Reassessments are not conducted to increase tax revenue, according to Pennsylvania’s assessment law. They are required to be revenue neutral.
“When the value goes up – the values are going to go up – the millage rate has to be brought down and equalized (with) what they collected (in taxes) the prior year,” Wright said.
Then, taxing bodies can raise millage rates to collect up to 10 percent more in revenue, though they don’t have to.
Assessors will have identification as they evaluate properties. They will photograph and measure property buildings, but will not enter homes or businesses, Wright said.
“I can't stress that enough. A lot of people think ‘Oh, you're going to come inside my house and everything.’ We do not go inside their homes,” she said. “They take into consideration the square footage of the home as they look at recent sales, they create new neighborhoods. And that's all put into the computer system to create cost tables.”
Properties are reassessed when the tax-based property values are inconsistent. Reassessment equalizes values and ensures taxpayers pay a fair share in taxes.
The International Association of Assessing Officers recommends reassessing every four to six years, though Pennsylvania has no requirement for periodic reassessment. The association offers education, consulting and technical resources for property valuation.
Lackawanna County, home to Scranton, is in the midst of its first reassessment since values were set in 1968, one of the longest periods without one. The county is paying $5.18 million. Tyler is conducting that reassessment, too. Its new values will go into effect in 2026.
Mercer, Schuylkill and Tioga counties are also in the midst of reassessments. Wayne County put new values into effect in 2023 after a reassessment.
