Luzerne County court officials have eliminated a mediation step for property owners appealing their property tax assessments, which means all cases will now be monitored and heard by county judges.
Mediation was added after the 2009 countywide reassessment to prevent county judges from getting bogged down with an influx of cases from property owners contesting county assessment appeals board rulings. In mediation, a court employee presides over negotiations.
Cases not resolved through mediation also were supposed to advance to trial before a special master — another step added in 2009 that has been eliminated. Court officials were not aware of any challenges that reached the master level.
Initially, many post-reassessment cases were resolved through mediation. Over time, most cases were privately negotiated by attorneys without advancing to formal mediation, officials said. A county judge had to sign off on the settlements, but there typically was no public proceeding in which both sides argued their opposing views, court and county officials said.
County Court Administrator Michael Shucosky said around 70 outstanding assessment challenges that “were languishing” unresolved will be assigned to county judges.
“Now that the reassessment process is completed, we are reverting back to the old system where tax assessment appeals are treated no different than any other civil case,” he said.
The 70 old cases, some dating back to the reassessment, will proceed to trial if they are not settled or withdrawn, he said.
Timely resolution is in the county’s interest because property owners who obtain assessment reductions receive refunds for overpayments retroactive to the date they filed their appeals, creating a budget liability, county Manager C. David Pedri recently told council members.
Mediation “served its purpose” when the county was hit with thousands of post-reassessment appeals, particularly residential ones, Shucosky said.
It is “more appropriate” for complex commercial appeals to be heard by judges in open court, though attorneys representing property owners and taxing bodies are free to continue attempting to reach an agreement on an assessment on their own to avoid the time and expense of a trial, he said.
Council Chairwoman Linda McClosky Houck had initiated public discussion about the mediation process several months ago, saying large commercial and industrial cases should be heard by a judge.
“I applaud the court on the wisdom of its decision,” McClosky Houck said Wednesday, noting eight years have passed since the reassessment.
“People should have their day in court, and there also is more transparency in court proceedings that you won’t have in mediation, just by the nature of mediation,” she said.
The county’s proposed 2017 budget earmarks $750,000 for assessment appeal refunds, which is the same amount allocated in 2016. The county spent $254,400 on refunds through Oct. 11 this year, but the administration argued the requested $750,000 should remain to prevent budgetary shortfalls experienced in the past due to unexpected high, multi-year reductions.
County Councilman Harry Haas has proposed reducing the allocation by $150,000, leaving $600,000 for refunds next year.
