Property reassessment creating confusion for some Beaver County residents; commissioner clarifies
This effort began back in 2016 when a property developer sued Beaver County for reassessment.
This effort began back in 2016 when a property developer sued Beaver County for reassessment.
This effort began back in 2016 when a property developer sued Beaver County for reassessment.
As the process of reassessing the property values of at least 60,000 homes in Beaver County begins, some homeowners are expressing confusion.
Watch the report from Beaver County in the video player above.
This effort began back in 2016 when a property developer sued Beaver County for reassessment. The county took the fight to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and lost.
Now, residents are starting to see it all play out, and some say the process has not been clear. This is the first time the county has been assessed since 1982, according to Beaver County Board of Commissioners.
“If it needs to be done, I’m all for it, but do it right,” Todd Fryer said.
Todd Fryer got a letter in the mail from Tyler Technologies, the company contracted by Beaver County to do these reassessments.
“It stated that there is still a house here, but the house has been gone since June 2021," Fryer said.
Fryer said the paperwork states refused by “data refused by occupant.”
“Nobody was here. I have cameras up, so I know who comes down here. This is a dead-end lane,” Fryer said. “If they were here they would’ve seen that there’s not a house to begin with.”
Several others raised similar concerns on social media, saying their letters listed incorrect measurements and added or subtracted parts of property.
Tyler Technologies responded to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4’s questions Thursday night, clarifying that the letters are not official assessments.
“We have recently sent out data mailers in Beaver County. These data mailers are not assessments. They are reports that reference information gathered during the data collection phase of the appraisal process. Property owners are asked to review the data mailer and submit corrections to Tyler for processing. If the data mailer is correct, then the property owner may keep the report for their records. This is one step in ensuring that the information is as accurate as possible,” a spokesperson for Tyler Technologies said.
County Commission Chair Daniel Camp stressed that this is the data collection phase.
“What was supposed to take place were Tyler Technologies, the field assessors are going to properties, knocking on the door. They were not trying to enter the house in any way. They do perimeter walks. They ask a few questions. If the person is not home, they leave a hanging card, ask you to fill out the proper information. We go off the information that we have,” Camp said.
Camp said the assessors can also use aerial images for this first phase, which might show structures that no longer exist.
If people see errors in the data for their property, like Fryer did, Camp said you should correct it now.
“Our whole goal is to not have as many appeals. It cost the county more money when we have these appeals. I want to make sure we have the correct data,” Camp said.
Tyler Technologies expects to be wrapped up by next spring, then the assessed values will go out to property owners.
Camp said Beaver County will be launching a campaign to help people understand what factors into their property value, and if there are still errors, there will be another chance to appeal before those new values affect people’s property taxes in 2024.