Southern York County Life

Chronister actually says that the reassessment is about “tax fairness”?  I can’t believe that I was stupid enough to vote for this guy, but the alternative of Mitrick and Kilgore was not much better I guess.  If they really believe that property prices increased by 24% more than assessed value last year and they try to stick me with an additional 24% in assessed value I better start looking for a real estate agent now.  They need to drive through Fawn Township and look at the For Sale signs that have been on houses for 2 or more years.

Sale figures show it’s time to reassess
CARL LINDQUIST The York Dispatch
Article Launched: 06/16/2008 10:47:17 AM EDT

The prospect of a property reassessment is again on the horizon despite the slowdown in home sales in 2007.
State figures for York County show property sold for an average of 24 percent more than assessed value last year.

Under a 2003 resolution, the county’s assessment appeals board must ask commissioners to fund a reassessment when there’s a disparity of more than 15 percent.

Commissioners were notified of the need last year, but decided not to fund a reassessment in 2008.

Now they’ll face the same question again. The reassessment is estimated to cost about $2 million.

“I don’t think we really have a choice,” said President York County Commissioner Steve Chronister. “It’s always a difficult move to make because the residents that pay taxes don’t understand it.

“They look at it, and I always looked at it before I became commissioner, as a backdoor way of raising taxes. It’s really about tax fairness.”

Slight increase: In 2006, the disparity between assessments and sale prices of all types of property was 23.9 percent, according to the State Tax Equalization Board. In 2007, the difference increased very slightly to 24 percent, according to the board.

That comes despite a slowdown in home sales.

The Realtors Association of York and Adams Counties reported a 10 percent decline in York County home sales between 2006 and 2007. Nonetheless, median sales price of homes inched up 3 percent.

The number and price of commercial and industrial property

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sales remained steady last year, said Russ Bardolf, vice president of office and investment services for York City-based Rock Commercial Real Estate.
Commissioners have not yet been notified of the need for a reassessment, they said. The last reassessment ended in 2005.

If another reassessment is approved to begin next year, the new values would be used to determine taxes in 2011.

The decision about another reassessment will likely be made when the board of commissioners approves the budget for 2008.

Unsure: Commissioner Chris Reilly said it is too early for him to lean either for, or against, another reassessment.

“If the facts and figures bear out the need for a reassessment, we’re going to have to bite the bullet and do it,” he said.

Failing to do a reassessment is advantageous to businesses and others who are better off at the expense of the average taxpayer, Chronister said. They can use the disparity between sale prices and assessed values as a way to get their assessments lowered and reduce their taxes.

Commissioner Doug Hoke said he’s not sure whether a reassessment is the right way to go.

“I am going to ask a whole lot of questions so I understand the full impact,” he said.

Can you post a phone number & email address for him?

A reassesment does not necessarily change your taxes.  It is very likely to, but it doesnt mean it will.  Believe me, I pay an awful lot in taxes, and I dont know what I will do if they went up that much.  So, here is what happens.  The value of a home is the amount it can be sold for.  Nothing else.  So, those of us that live in areas where there has been increased pressure on the housing market, have had the actual, real value of our homes increase, while those that live in less desireable areas have seen the value of thiers decrease.  The tax rates are calculated out based on the net value of all of the property in the county, and what the county budget comes out to be.  So, assume that the average difference between real and taxed value is 24%, and for simplicity we say that the value of all taxable real estate in York county is 100M and the county budget is 15M.  This comes out to a millage rate of .15, or 15 for every 1000 value of your house.  Very high, but this is a simulation.  Now, after the re-assessment, the sum value of all property is 124M, and the annual budget is still 15M.  That sets the new millage rate at .1209.

Before the assesment, a person who owned a house in York City that was taxed at a value of 100k, owed 1500 in taxes on the property.  A person that owned a 300k house in southern york county had a tax bill of $4500.  Now, the value of homes has increased differently in different areas.  I know that the disparity between what I am taxed at and what the value is, and it is a bit more than 24%.
So now, the person in York, who’s house actually depreciated to $95k owes 1140 for his house, while the person who owns a house that was at 300, and has appreciated the full $ to a value of $372 will owe 4464.  The numbers are different for every household, but you get the idea.  While the taxed value of the house itself will change, the biggest impact is made by the actual budget the county passes.  If the county doesnt increase it’s budget, then the amount of taxes you pay will only change by the relative difference between your household appreciation/depreciation and the county average.

So it doesnt make it automatic that a tax increase will accompany a new assessment, but I dont believe the numbers I set out above reflect reality.  I believe there are more homes in areas that have decreased in value, and those that have increased in value have done so at substantially more than $.  So the shift in home value will cause a substantial shift in tax burden from the ‘poor’ to the ‘rich’.

I hate the words ‘Tax Fairness’.

JustPlainC - 18 June 2008 09:15 AM

A reassesment does not necessarily change your taxes.  It is very likely to, but it doesnt mean it will.  Believe me, I pay an awful lot in taxes, and I dont know what I will do if they went up that much.  So, here is what happens.  The value of a home is the amount it can be sold for.  Nothing else.  So, those of us that live in areas where there has been increased pressure on the housing market, have had the actual, real value of our homes increase, while those that live in less desireable areas have seen the value of thiers decrease.  The tax rates are calculated out based on the net value of all of the property in the county, and what the county budget comes out to be.  So, assume that the average difference between real and taxed value is 24%, and for simplicity we say that the value of all taxable real estate in York county is 100M and the county budget is 15M.  This comes out to a millage rate of .15, or 15 for every 1000 value of your house.  Very high, but this is a simulation.  Now, after the re-assessment, the sum value of all property is 124M, and the annual budget is still 15M.  That sets the new millage rate at .1209.

Before the assesment, a person who owned a house in York City that was taxed at a value of 100k, owed 1500 in taxes on the property.  A person that owned a 300k house in southern york county had a tax bill of $4500.  Now, the value of homes has increased differently in different areas.  I know that the disparity between what I am taxed at and what the value is, and it is a bit more than 24%.
So now, the person in York, who’s house actually depreciated to $95k owes 1140 for his house, while the person who owns a house that was at 300, and has appreciated the full $ to a value of $372 will owe 4464.  The numbers are different for every household, but you get the idea.  While the taxed value of the house itself will change, the biggest impact is made by the actual budget the county passes.  If the county doesnt increase it’s budget, then the amount of taxes you pay will only change by the relative difference between your household appreciation/depreciation and the county average.

So it doesnt make it automatic that a tax increase will accompany a new assessment, but I dont believe the numbers I set out above reflect reality.  I believe there are more homes in areas that have decreased in value, and those that have increased in value have done so at substantially more than $.  So the shift in home value will cause a substantial shift in tax burden from the ‘poor’ to the ‘rich’.

I hate the words ‘Tax Fairness’.

But the assessment also flows over to the dreaded school taxes as well.  On the last assessment the district killed us with a 29% increase the year before the assessment came out because they were SUPPOSED to be revenue neutral on increases the year that the assessment came out.  We all know that did not happen either and we were hit with an additional 10% the next year on the new assessed rate.

Chronister ran as a tax hawk and anti government spending leader and he has proven to be a liar before his first year as commissioner is up!

M. Steve Chronister
President

Party affiliation: Republican

Education: Graduated from York Catholic

Elective offices: West Manchester Township Supervisor since 1992; Chairman since 2000.

The Board of Commissioners
Administrative Center
28 East Market St.
York, PA 17401-1588

Phone: 717-771-9964
Fax: 717-771-9804
e-mail:

Thank you for posting his information.