Allegheny County Council approves online filing of assessment appeals

Allegheny County residents could soon challenge the assessed value of their properties online, saving people a stamp or a trip Downtown.

County Council voted unanimously to allow electronic filing of property assessment appeals.

Councilman Ed Kress, R-Shaler, who proposed the change more than a year ago, said it will make appealing assessments easier.

“If the government made a mistake on it, why should you have to jump through hoops to appeal your assessment,” Kress said.

Councilman Bob Macey, D-West Mifflin, a co-sponsor of the bill, said electronic filing will help people living on the edges of the county appeal their assessments.

County Executive Rich Fitzgerald intends to sign the bill.

The county will add an electronic form to the Office of Property Assessment's website. The form is ready and could go live within two weeks, said Jerry Tyskiewicz, director of the Department of Administrative Services. The deadline to file assessment appeals for 2015 is March 31.

Property owners will receive confirmation when their appeal has been received, Tyskiewicz said. Municipalities and school districts can also use the form to appeal assessments.

Neither Kress nor Tyskiewicz feared online appeals would overburden county staff of the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review. About 2,000 appeals have been filed this year.

Property owners, municipalities and school districts filed about 10,000 appeals last year.

Under the current system, people must mail or drop off appeals to the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review at the County Office Building, Downtown.

In unrelated business, the council voted 13-2 to approve a 25-year tax abatement for development of the former Civic Arena site. Money the developers would have paid in property taxes will go toward building infrastructure and funding development programs.

Council voted to hold a hearing at 5 p.m. April 6 in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse, Downtown, to discuss violence in Allegheny County and how county funding could help stop it.

Aaron Aupperlee is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7986 or aaupperlee@tribweb.com.