The lawsuit against the county by The Community Justice Project could be nearing an end and reassessment is possible.

First Assistant Solicitor Glenn Roth said Wednesday, “we’re in serious settlement talks. It may settle,” he said.

He declined to provide any additional details.

The county has been sued by the Community Justice Project, a nonprofit group in Harrisburg. In November 2020, the county hired Joan R. Price and the firm Eastburn and Gray, P.C., Doylestown, for “the purpose of evaluating the county’s real estate tax assessment procedure and processes as it relates to pending countywide reassessment litigation and to such other matters deemed necessary by county administration and the office of the county solicitor.”

Chief Assessor Kent Hatter said previously a reassessment is “more than likely” within seven years. Roth said earlier he believed a countywide reassessment isn’t necessary. The last one was done in 1996.

Marielle Macher, who is listed as a lawyer and executive director of the CJP, said the owners of lower property values are “bearing a disproportionate share of the tax burden,” as exemplified by an expert report prepared by an outside consultant. A reassessment is sought, she said.

Approximately 96,000 properties exist in the county. A reassessment could take two or three years, Hatter said, costing “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”