Noah Fardo Quoted in Two Trib Total Media Articles
Making Appeals More Convenient
“In-person tax appeals may change in Allegheny County” was published on Tuesday, Jan. 14, and announced that soon, Allegheny County taxpayers may have the option to appeal property assessments online or via mail thanks to newly introduced legislation. Taxpayers are currently required to appeal assessments with a trip Downtown to the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review, a major inconvenience.
Because reviewers usually make rulings based on information submitted, in-person meetings are not always a necessity. But Fardo suggested to Trib Total Media that an appraiser should be required to review property owners’ submitted evidence. He added, “Sometimes the hearing officer is an appraiser but not always.”
Big Trouble for Allegheny County Schools and Municipalities
Two years after the court-mandated Allegheny County property reassessment, many Allegheny County schools and municipalities are still struggling financially.
“Allegheny County schools, municipalities unsettled by pending appeals of reassessments” was published on Monday, Jan. 20, and stated, “It could take years to resolve more than 13,000 outstanding appeals from the 2012 reassessment, which could slash millions of dollars from a $6.4 billion chunk of county real estate.”
Allegheny County officials opposed reassessment and encouraged appeals. During the week of January 13, county assessments were released for 2014, providing school districts and municipalities with property values and budgets for 2014 and 2015.
Fardo commented on the current state of the property tax system by saying, ““The property tax system, overall, is a lot more fair now than it was before the reassessment.”
To get the full stories, read “In-person tax appeals may change in Allegheny County” and “Allegheny County schools, municipalities unsettled by pending appeals of reassessments” on the Trib Total Media website.
