A county will perform a reassessment in an effort to determine equitable values for all properties within a county. The intent is to have an equitable distribution of taxes among the county properties. Typically, a reassessment is not completed to raise taxes for the county as a whole, but some individual properties may experience a tax increase while others may experience a tax decrease.
There are several steps to a reassessment, and they typically include:
1) collection of data on each property, which may include a site visit, measurements, and photos;
2) completion of market studies to develop a formula to estimate the Fair Market Value of each property;
3) estimation of value using up to 3 approaches to value;
4) owners will receive a notice with the preliminary assessed value;
5) informal reviews may be scheduled to allow property owners to inform the county about factors of the property that may impact its value;
6) property owners will receive a change of assessment notice with the new assessed value;
7) a property owner may dispute the new value by appealing the change to the Board of Assessment Appeals with their own evidence of market value (typically an appraisal report written for assessment appeal purposes);
8) the board's decision may be appealed to the Court of Common Pleas, at which point the best evidence of value is expert witness testimony given by a real estate appraiser with submission of a well support real estate Appraisal Report.
Once you receive the preliminary assessed value of your property (step 4) or the change of assessment notice (step 6), our real estate appraisers can review the proposed assessment and assist you in determining whether the proposed assessment is fair and aligns with the potential market value of your property. If the new assessment appears unreasonable, we can advise you on factors that should be discussed at the informal review (step 5) or complete a written Appraisal Report that can be used for the appeal hearing (step 7). Please note, the Appraisal Report must be written for the specific purpose of a tax appeal / assessment appeal; appraisals completed for mortgage financing or another purpose should not be used for assessment appeals. Our real estate appraisers have decades of experience with tax appeal / assessment appeal cases, and we have had consistent success over the years throughout western Pennsylvania. Visit our assessment appeal / tax appeal page to learn more about our 2-step appraisal process.
Clarion County has a base year of 1975, which is when the last reassessment was completed, and the county is currently in the process of completing a reassessment. The process began in 2022, and the process was to be completed by mid 2024, but in March 2024 a 1-year delay was announced.
Visit the Clarion County Reassessment Page for more information.
Warren County has a base year of 1989, which is when the last reassessment was completed, and the county is currently in the process of completing a reassessment. Preliminary value notices and informal reviews are scheduled for Spring 2025 with official change notices scheduled for July 2025. Formal appeals will be heard July through October 2025 with an appeal deadline of July 1st, 2025.
Visit the Warren County Reassessment Page for more information.
Mercer County has a base year of 1971, which is when the last reassessment was completed, and the county is currently in the process of completing a reassessment. Preliminary value notices and informal reviews are scheduled for Spring 2026 with official change notices scheduled for Summer 2026. Formal appeals will be heard August through October 2026.
Visit the Mercer County Reassessment Page for more information.
3111 State Street, Erie, Pennsylvania 16508, United States
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