Schuylkill County’s first reassessment since 1996 is chugging along on schedule.

A request for proposals to perform the property evaluations netted “multiple” responses, said Chief Assessor Kent R. Hatter.

He did not divulge the actual number. The proposals were received by the Sept. 30 deadline.

Hatter described the documents as “massive.”

“We’re working on the tedious task of going through them and doing our due diligence,” he said. “We’re getting there.”

“We want to make a recommendation to commissioners in early November,” he said.

They’ll then make an announcement of their decision.

According to a court decree from a lawsuit filed by a Harrisburg nonprofit organization to force the reassessment, the contract is required to be in place by year’s end.

Hatter said the county required transparency in the contract.

“Part of proposal is requiring information to be released,” Hatter said.

That includes data collecting, which areas they’re working in, mailings, and social and news media, he said.

Why reassess?

The lawsuit, filed on July 30, 2018, by the Community Justice Project, contended that property evaluations were unfairly determined and created an inequitable tax burden. The organization has filed multiple such suits in the state, including Lackawanna and Allegheny counties.

The Pennsylvania Constitution states that “all taxes shall be uniform, upon the same class of subjects, within the territorial limits of authority levying the tax, and shall be levied and collected under general laws. Simply put, it requires property taxation to be uniform and fair.

In November 2020, the county hired Joan R. Price of Eastburn and Gray, P.C., of Doylestown, to evaluate the county’s tax assessment procedures and processes and relevant matters.

Rather than continue to have the matter drag through the courts, the county on May 16 settled, agreeing to do the reevaluation.

The county’s last reassessment was done 26 years ago. Changes in property values mean some property owners are paying too much and others too little. County officials have said the reassessment will result in roughly one-third of property owners paying more, one-third will be paying less, and one-third will pay the same amount.

Schuylkill County has 94,600 properties, Hatter has said. That includes about 60,000-some residential units.

Subdivisions and additions mean the number of parcels is constantly in flux.

Hatter said the county anticipates a total property tax revenue of $42,772,183.37 this year, providing everyone pays their real estate tax.

The process

The reassessment process is being done in stages. The first stage is hiring a capable professional company with the experience, knowledge and financial assets necessary to complete this large project. That’s what Hatter and his team are doing now.

Next, by early next year, trained data collectors will begin collecting information from property owners through data mailers, site visits and in-person interviews.

The company doing the reassessment will notify property owners about the specific areas of the county where they will be working.

“It is important during this stage of data collection that the county’s records accurately describe each property because it is this information that appraisers will use in the valuation process,” Hatter wrote a description of the process available on the county website.

Specially designed computer software will be used to evaluate the properties, ensuring that all properties are valued using the same set of standards.

Certified Pennsylvania Evaluators will review each result and adjust values as necessary in order to establish fairness and consistency.

Property owners will be notified by the county prior to June 1, 2025, and given an opportunity for an informal review and the ability to correct any data errors.

Change of assessment notices will be mailed on or before July 1, 2025, with the new value, and property owners can begin the formal appeal process to the county Board of Assessment Appeals. The new assessed values will take effect Jan. 1, 2026.

For more information about then reassessment, visit https://schuylkillcountypa.gov/_T13_R14.php.