Property taxes are always a bone of contention in Allegheny County. Everyone remembers the last assessment, with its disastrous inequities and bureaucratic snarls.
In this year’s race for county executive, one candidate pledges no reassessment, leaving finances with no help for improving government services.
The other wants a new assessment, with the same unworkable nightmare as last time.
Neither solution is satisfactory.
It would be better if every home was assessed based on the last amount it sold for. Considering the ridiculous inflation in housing prices, this could bring in a real windfall. And property owners would have no grounds to complain — if you thought the place was worth what you paid, you should be prepared to be taxed at that amount.
An appeal would be rightly subject to ridicule.
I challenge either candidate to explain (coherently) why this would be untenable.
Howard Schmitt
Green Tree