In March of 2012, Allegheny County mailed notices of reassessment to all property owners. Although the property tax reassessment process has received a large amount of media coverage, many taxpayers within the Pine-Richland community have questions about how the new property values will affect their County, Township and School District tax bills.

Below is a listing of frequently asked questions and answers which will help to provide clarification for property owners to understand the process:

• Why is the reassessment occurring?
The county-wide reassessment is a legislative process that is being directed by the courts. The underlying intention of the reassessment process is to ensure that each taxpayer is paying their equitable share of the local tax burden. The process is intended to establish the fair market value of your home today. The appeals process should be utilized if you feel the new assessed value of your property has been established at a value that exceeds the current fair market value of the property.

• Who determines the assessed value of a property?
The assessment, or market value of the property, is determined by Allegheny County.

• How much will the Pine-Richland School District benefit from the reassessment process?
Under Act 1 of 2006, the District is not permitted to recognize a windfall in tax revenue beyond the established adjusted index of the prior fiscal year. The revenue generated by the established millage rate in 2013 cannot exceed 2% for the Pine-Richland School District. As a result, the District will be required to reduce the millage rate to avoid a windfall in additional tax revenue from local real estate tax in the fiscal year 2013-2014 operating budget.

• What was the overall increase in tax assessments within the Pine-Richland School District as a result of the reassessment?
The overall increase in value is approximately 30%. This represents the increase in total value of all residential and commercial properties in our community as a result of the 2013 court-ordered reassessment.

• When will the new assessments go into effect?
The new assessed values do not take effect for school taxes until July 2013. The tax bills which will be received by property owners in July of this year will be based on the previous assessed value of the property.

• Will the District appeal any reassessed property values?
The District solicitor will evaluate all properties and determine where the difference between the unadjusted sales price and annual 2013 assessment is such as to suggest an annual revenue effect of $5,000 for sales in 2002 through 2007, and $3,000 for sales occurring in 2008 through 2011. If the property meets these criteria, the District may appeal the assessed value to seek equity for all property owners in the Pine-Richland School District.

• What will my School District tax bill be for 2013?
It is too soon to determine the approved 2013 millage rate at this time. Allegheny County will be continually processing appeals and this changes the overall assessed valuation for our community. Final certified values were sent out by Allegheny County in December 2012. The District's millage rate will be decreased to avoid a windfall of real estate tax revenue during the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

The following website is an additional source of information about the Allegheny County reassessment process: http://www.alleghenycounty.us/courtreassess.aspx.