Hempfield board ends controversial tax assessment appeals program
A residential tax assessment appeals program that was largely criticized in 2017 will be eliminated from the Hempfield Area School District starting in 2021.
The program, adopted in 2015 to target under-assessed commercial and industrial parcels, essentially raises property taxes to what they would be if officials did a countywide reassessment — something that hasn’t happened since 1973. Residential properties were added to the list in 2017 after a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling cleared the way.
Board members on Monday voted 7-2 to end the program. Members Diane Ciabattoni and Sonya Brajdic voted against the motion.
“By eliminating this, we are attracting more people here,” said board member Mike Alfery. “There’s a lot of things happening in the township. The people in this room are going to be major drivers of that, and I think this is just one hurdle we should eliminate.”
Since 2015, the program has brought in more than $650,000 in additional revenue for the district. But, district Business Manager Wayne Wismar said in December the income is offset by the more than $144,500 the district lost through reverse tax appeals in 2019 and the beginning of 2020.
Under the program, properties that reach a $250,000 differential — or the difference between the fair market value and selling price — qualify for a reassessment. That number was raised last year from $100,000 after several residents complained, resulting in 28 residential properties being removed from the list, according to Wismar.
While further appeals will not be submitted in 2021, those started in tax year 2020 will be continued, something board President Tony Bompiani and member Jennifer Bretz did not agree with.
“I don’t agree with the program,” Bretz said. “Just in talking to business leaders, elected officials and the residents of this community in the last year, I am strongly against it. I’m strongly against that, but also the unresolved appeals. I think that that should be dismissed also.”
Both members still voted in favor of the motion.
Ciabattoni and Brajdic, however, said the program keeps taxpayers across the board from paying higher rates by targeting a select few. They added that board members will not know the implications of cutting the program until budget discussion begin.
“I just think we’re pulling the plug now on something that isn’t going to make any changes until July,” Brajdic said. “We haven’t begun to even look at the budget. I think all this has to go hand-in-hand with the budget discussion.”
Brajdic, who suggested changing the differential so fewer residential properties were targeted, added that decisions have been made in the past to eliminate programs and staff to keep taxes low.
Still, taxes had gradually risen an average of 2.21 mills since the 2014-15 school year to account for a deficit.
Board member Paul Ward countered Brajdic, however, saying, “I don’t agree with the program and I don’t agree with the concept behind the appeals process, so waiting for the budget, to me, isn’t going to make a difference. It’s sort of the end justifying the means, and I don’t need to know what the needs of the budget are compared to this program because it’s not going to change my mind on the validity of the program.”
Jeanne Smith, who previously voted in favor of the program, voiced similar concerns to Brajdic and Ciabattoni, urging board members to wait until further budget discussions start. She voted in favor of Monday’s motion “for the language that’s in it.”
“When we come to that point where we have to balance the budget, what are you going to do? You’re going to raise taxes because we have to be able to pay our bills,” Smith said. “And who’s going to pay those taxes? All the other taxpayers.”
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