Elaine, I think you are linking to the old "Base-Year" assessments. According to the published timetable, the new assessments aren't due until the 20th. When they are published, the will appear at the Court-Ordered Reassessment Values site, not the Base-Year Assessment site.
Which value is going to be used for my taxes this year? The new court-ordered reassessment value I received in the mail or my current base-year value?
Pursuant to a January 12, 2012, court order, your current base-year value will be used to calculate your county, municipal and school district real estate taxes for 2012. It is the value listed under “CURRENT” on the notice you received in the mail. You may also view this value by searching for your property on the Allegheny County Real Estate website.
How and when will my new court-ordered reassessment value be used?
Your new court-ordered reassessment value will be used to calculate your county, municipal and school district real estate taxes for 2013. It is the value listed under “2013 VALUE” or “Next Year” on the notice you received in the mail. You may also view this value by searching for your property on the Court-Ordered Reassessment website.
Elaine, what's so mysterious about the 2012 Allegheny County taxes that it's worth asking everyone how much theirs went up? Isn’t the answer going to be the same for everybody: 21%?
But since you asked anyway, I reasoned that you believed the new assessments – which would be worth asking about – had just been revealed. Hence my original comment that they had not.
Let me get this straight. A 21% increase in taxes is NOT worth asking about? But you're right, Tom. I should not have had the title of the post as, "How much did your county taxes go up?" I should have called it, "In DOLLARS, how much is the county tax increase affecting your wallet in 2012 before the reassessment values for the year 2013 are announced on February 20, 2012?" My mistake. It flows soooo much better. Elaine
Elaine, nobody’s taxes are going up 21% because of this change. Yes, Allegheny County property taxes went up that much, but they only account for about 1/7th of the typical Mt. Lebanon household’s property taxes. All told, that hike is going to affect our property taxes by less than 3%. For most people, who also pay significant earned-income taxes, the relative effect on our overall taxes will be even less.
Yeah, me too. The 21% increase in county real estate taxes amounts to $281 where I live...not an insignificant amount when it will be coupled with a 15% Muni increase come June 1st., plus the $96 stormwater so-called "fee", plus a projected school district millage increase above the Act 1 limit also on June 1st., plus the notices of the now 2013 reassessment fiasco to be received later this month.
Yeah, I knew exactly what Elaine was referring too....and it is a particular nightmare for elderly, long time retirees as well !
Elaine clearly wrote "county taxes", which in this case means millage. She only wrote "Assessment" because that is the name of the site, not the name of the increase. She did clearly state Allegheny County taxes. We all know the assessment won't change until next year at the earliest. I think the 21% increase is huge. Even the school district would have done it over 2 years, like the double-digit back-to-back increases of 2003 and 2004. Who knows what the county will do with the millage in the coming years? David Huston
Let us not forget that you will pay those 2012 real estate taxes with cheapened dollars. Last year the inflation rate was 3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The estimated inflation rate for 2012, at least for the first six months, is projected to be 2.4%. For a family to tread water, financially speaking, its 2012 income will not only have to rise enough to cover the the inflation rate, but increases in the County, Municipal, and School District real estate taxes as well. And remember; real estate taxes are paid out of NET income. You can't just add the expected real estate tax increase amounts to your gross salary in order to see just how much more you will need to earn and call it good, because you pay taxes on income. In other words, if you figure you will need another $1000 to cover your property tax increases your employer will have to raise your salary more than that in order for you to NET the thousand bucks.
Everyone's tax situation is different, but the undeniable fact is that the typical Mt. Lebanon family must see a whole lot more than a 2.4% increase in gross income in order to stay even financially.
If anything, this provided comic relief. See below:
Your exchange with Tom Moertel concerning property taxes reminds me of an Abbot and Costello routine! Your point is simple. You're taxes went up. So did mine. In fact, my Allegheny County taxes are now 21% higher than they were last year. Tom is manipulating math like a slight-of-hand artist and, I might add, with no affect on the fact that my County taxes went up.
I'm rather surprised at Tom. This is not rocket science...but it IS funny!
Here’s the thing: Most people don’t understand the issues like you do. They need a little more context to put the pieces together.
When a new post about taxes shows up at a time when most people are worried about the soon-to-be-revealed new assessments, and when that post asks readers to check the county assessment web site for how much their taxes went up, don’t you think that some people are likely to get the wrong idea?
Elaine: Can you please update the article to make plain to readers that these taxes do not reflect the new assessments? Right now, readers have to read into the comments for that information.
Everyone: I’m just trying to help. Go back and re-read the main article. Do you think it’s possible for readers to get the wrong idea? If so, help them. Give them the context they need.
Two questions. Tom, how do you know "most people don't understand the issues like you do"? Seems to me anyone that writes checks for county, school district, municipal taxes and storm water fees understands the issues. Richard, any idea on who is almost guaranteed 2.4+% pay raises? Andy Bradford
Tom, I don't know how to make it any plainer. Assessments have been in the news, but I was not aware of any county tax increases for this year. I was blindsighted and I am willing to bet I was not the only one who was unaware of this year's increase. As David said, the name of the site that I was linking to is called "Allegheny County Assessment." I am truly not trying to confuse anyone. Where you lost me was that the increase is 21% and that is not a big deal. Elaine
To be clear,you said that it wasn't worth asking everyone how much their taxes went up. As I said, I am sorry I even brought this up. I need a nap. Elaine
Richard, any idea on who is almost guaranteed 2.4+% pay raises? Mr. Bradford: Certainly. Various civil servants, funded courtesy of the profit-motivated sector of society.
Thank you RG. Those guaranteed raises virtually guarantee and endless cycle of higher taxes to cover the higher expenditures regardless of value or performance. Would that be a "good understanding?" Andy Bradford
And I am not at all sure that the quoted 2.4% inflation rate is the true CPI-U rate that includes food & energy components....in other words, the real world and not the political world the government wants you to believe. Anyone been to supermarkets and gas stations over the past few months, even weeks ?
Mr. Lewis is spot-on! The grocery store is one of the best gauges of inflation in America, and most of us who are still breathing can tell you that based on its measurement 2011 inflation was quite a bit more than 3%.
Mr. Bradford: Yes, that would be a very good understanding.
Hey, folks, I’m happy to participate in the conversation here, but would you do me a small favor? Please try to respond to what I actually wrote, not some straw-man argument I didn’t.
Andy: I didn’t say that most people don’t understand the issues like I do but like David Huston and Bill Lewis do. (I had addressed my response to them.) I think that’s a safe bet. Heck, Bill Lewis probably knows more about local government than local government does!
But if you want to see evidence that most people aren’t following these things, consider that even Elaine, who runs a local news blog, didn’t know about the county tax hike – she writes that she “was not aware of any county tax increases for this year. I was blindsighted...” This, despite that it’s been in the news plenty:
Get it? It’s tricky stuff, with lots of moving parts. It’s easy for people, even informed people, to miss something.
Elaine: I didn’t say “that it wasn't worth asking everyone how much their taxes went up.” I asked, “What's so mysterious about the 2012 Allegheny County taxes that it's worth asking everyone how much theirs went up?” In other words, I was assuming that I had missed something important and that you could show me what it was if I asked you directly.
And, Elaine, if you want to make the main article clearer for readers who haven’t been following the details, why not add something like this: Please note that these taxes are not affected by the reassessment that’s in the news: it won’t kick in until the 2013 tax year at the earliest.
Here is an idea, Tom. Perhaps you can cover this on Blog-Lebo and word it any way you want. Heck, there are TWO of you running ONE blog and there is just little ol' me running this blog AND a website. In addition, I am doing the best I can recording municipal meetings while asking David Huston to record the school board meetings. Throw in there, a host of RTK requests. I tried to make the original post as simple as possible. I never expected this outcome from simple post. I really should have had that nap. Elaine
OK Tom, point taken except that what does all this have to do with the price of hay
Elaine's original question of "How much did your county taxes go up?
Mine, yours and everyone else's in the county went up 21%. My new rain water bill adds another $96 to my annual fees to live here. Plus we have increases in municipal taxes, as yet determined school district taxes, coupled with "perhaps" state and federal taxes.
All of which could be drastically changed once again next year thru reassessments.
Maddening for the individual or business that must make plans to cover their future operating costs and price their goods and services accordingly.
Something entities that have the ability to "take" whatever they need don't seem to be able to fathom.
The school board was given an edict of sorts, Act 1, that attempted to instruct school boards to exercise some restraint in their spending. Of course, the powers left plenty of wiggle room through exemptions and exclusions. Which of course, ta da, the board is exercising.
Now Mr. Gideon speculates one needs at a minimum a 2.4% gain in income is needed just to stay even. From attending audit & finance meetings it appears earned income in MTL hasn't kepted up that pace. Mr. Matthews in one of his presentations mentioned that earned income was something like 2.2% for MTL.
How many businesses have you seen close in Mt. Lebanon, just on Washington Rd.?
The Cyclops Building at 650 Washington Rd. hasn't paid property taxes for several years. Right now it doesn't even show up on either the old or the new assessment website.
I read in Mt Lebanon magazine about a couple trying to open an ice cream shop on Washington Rd. It's something that would be a good addition to the landscape. Too bad people's discretionary income will be going to feed the monster that our local government has become.
And along the lines of the assessments, it's funny how Fitzgerald speaks out both sides of his mouth. He's not even in office, within hours of the ballots being counted and he's already calling for a raise in county taxes. Then, when the assessments come through, he vows to fight them. With duplicity like that, he's sure to be re-elected in a landslide.
Then he can take his "rightful" spot as an executive in some local company when that second term is over.
Mr. Ewing, this is weird. Rollers, the place to shop in MTL is listed and located at 600 Washington. Stevenson Williams address is 666 Washington and doesn't show on the county site either. Did they lose a whole section of Washington Road? Dick Bachman
There are a number of errors & omissions and confusing info on the existing County assessment website. It makes you wonder how in the world we can have any trust or faith in reassessments we will be finding in our mailboxes supposedly within the next 2 weeks or so. Here are just a few existing assessment examples in "UPTOWN" along Washington Rd. :
1) no big deal, but Rolliers Hardware, actually located at 600 Washington Rd., is not shown as a listing for where 600 should be on the address listings for Washington Rd....it's listed at the begining page of Washington Rd. properties for which no addresses are indicated (141-A-024);
2) same for what used to be called the "Cyclops (for former Cyclops Steel)Building", owned by the 650 Washington Road Associates, not surprisingly actually located at 650 Washington Rd. (141-F-032);
3) the hotel under construction on Washington Rd. between the the 607 and 615 Washington Rd. office buildings is actually listed twice...1st. as a vacant property, and 2nd. as not vacant (141-B-149)...it was purchased on 5/22/2009, some 33 months ago, by Washington Road Hospitality Associates LP from the Parking Authority for $450,000 and is still listed as tax exempt and a "Township Government " property...why is it tax exempt for even the purchase price of the land ?
4) the "official" address of the Stevenson-Williams building, located at 666 Washington Rd. (141-F-040) is 664 Washington Rd...*the devil made them do it* !
5) the final example is the vacant Denis Theatre at 685 Washington Rd. (141-F-122) purchased from then Commissioner Raja for some $668,000 many moons ago by the Denis Theatre Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt, nonprofit entity...yet the County lists it as taxable rather than tax exempt, and county taxes through 2011 have been paid and 2012 taxes have been assessed. The question is why ? Why is the tax exempt Denis taxed, and the Hotel, a taxable enterprise, not ?
There are probably reasons the County could put forward for this, but I'm not sure I for one would buy them. Remember, these are just a few examples along just a 3-block stretch of Washington Rd. I believe Lebo has some 50 miles of roadways...wonder what one could find along the remaining 49.6 miles ?
Bill, you are so right. There are commercial properties in MTL that sold for hundreds of thousands yet they are assessed below the average residential property. Yet we are as you point out expected to accept these numbers are accurate assessments once again. Dick Bachman
Elaine, I think you are linking to the old "Base-Year" assessments. According to the published timetable, the new assessments aren't due until the 20th. When they are published, the will appear at the Court-Ordered Reassessment Values site, not the Base-Year Assessment site.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Tom
Why are the 2012 taxes shown? Mine are listed. Aren't yours?
ReplyDeleteElaine
This is what the County website shows:
ReplyDeleteWhich value is going to be used for my taxes this year? The new court-ordered reassessment value I received in the mail or my current base-year value?
Pursuant to a January 12, 2012, court order, your current base-year value will be used to calculate your county, municipal and school district real estate taxes for 2012. It is the value listed under “CURRENT” on the notice you received in the mail. You may also view this value by searching for your property on the Allegheny County Real Estate website.
How and when will my new court-ordered reassessment value be used?
Your new court-ordered reassessment value will be used to calculate your county, municipal and school district real estate taxes for 2013. It is the value listed under “2013 VALUE” or “Next Year” on the notice you received in the mail. You may also view this value by searching for your property on the Court-Ordered Reassessment website.
Elaine
Elaine,
ReplyDeleteThe 2012 taxes are still based on the old assessments. The new assessments, we recently learned, won't kick in until the 2013 tax year.
For now, then, everyone's Allegheny County taxes should have gone up by the same amount: about 21%.
(That's how much yours went up, right?)
But that's just a county-wide tax hike, not the reassessments kicking in.
We'll have to wait a bit longer to find out how the reassessments will affect us.
Cheers,
Tom
Tom, I am only talking about 2012 taxes, not 2013. This has nothing to do with the assessments for 2013. One year at a time, buddy.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Elaine, what's so mysterious about the 2012 Allegheny County taxes that it's worth asking everyone how much theirs went up? Isn’t the answer going to be the same for everybody: 21%?
ReplyDeleteBut since you asked anyway, I reasoned that you believed the new assessments – which would be worth asking about – had just been revealed. Hence my original comment that they had not.
Cheers,
Tom
Let me get this straight. A 21% increase in taxes is NOT worth asking about? But you're right, Tom. I should not have had the title of the post as, "How much did your county taxes go up?" I should have called it, "In DOLLARS, how much is the county tax increase affecting your wallet in 2012 before the reassessment values for the year 2013 are announced on February 20, 2012?" My mistake. It flows soooo much better.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Elaine, nobody’s taxes are going up 21% because of this change. Yes, Allegheny County property taxes went up that much, but they only account for about 1/7th of the typical Mt. Lebanon household’s property taxes. All told, that hike is going to affect our property taxes by less than 3%. For most people, who also pay significant earned-income taxes, the relative effect on our overall taxes will be even less.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Tom
Whatever, Tom. All I know is that my county taxes increased. I am sorry I even brought this up.
ReplyDeleteElaine
What I picked up from your announcement was..a tax increase in your county taxes this year.
ReplyDelete-Angela Connors
Thank you, Angela. That was the message I was going for.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Yeah, me too. The 21% increase in county real estate taxes amounts to $281 where I live...not an insignificant amount when it will be coupled with a 15% Muni increase come June 1st., plus the $96 stormwater so-called "fee", plus a projected school district millage increase above the Act 1 limit also on June 1st., plus the notices of the now 2013 reassessment fiasco to be received later this month.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I knew exactly what Elaine was referring too....and it is a particular nightmare for elderly, long time retirees as well !
Bill Lewis
Elaine clearly wrote "county taxes", which in this case means millage.
ReplyDeleteShe only wrote "Assessment" because that is the name of the site, not the name of the increase. She did clearly state Allegheny County taxes.
We all know the assessment won't change until next year at the earliest.
I think the 21% increase is huge.
Even the school district would have done it over 2 years, like the double-digit back-to-back increases of 2003 and 2004.
Who knows what the county will do with the millage in the coming years?
David Huston
Let us not forget that you will pay those 2012 real estate taxes with cheapened dollars. Last year the inflation rate was 3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The estimated inflation rate for 2012, at least for the first six months, is projected to be 2.4%. For a family to tread water, financially speaking, its 2012 income will not only have to rise enough to cover the the inflation rate, but increases in the County, Municipal, and School District real estate taxes as well. And remember; real estate taxes are paid out of NET income. You can't just add the expected real estate tax increase amounts to your gross salary in order to see just how much more you will need to earn and call it good, because you pay taxes on income. In other words, if you figure you will need another $1000 to cover your property tax increases your employer will have to raise your salary more than that in order for you to NET the thousand bucks.
ReplyDeleteEveryone's tax situation is different, but the undeniable fact is that the typical Mt. Lebanon family must see a whole lot more than a 2.4% increase in gross income in order to stay even financially.
If anything, this provided comic relief. See below:
ReplyDeleteYour exchange with Tom Moertel concerning property taxes reminds me of an Abbot and Costello routine! Your point is simple. You're taxes went up. So did mine. In fact, my Allegheny County taxes are now 21% higher than they were last year. Tom is manipulating math like a slight-of-hand artist and, I might add, with no affect on the fact that my County taxes went up.
I'm rather surprised at Tom. This is not rocket science...but it IS funny!
Elaine
Bill and David,
ReplyDeleteHere’s the thing: Most people don’t understand the issues like you do. They need a little more context to put the pieces together.
When a new post about taxes shows up at a time when most people are worried about the soon-to-be-revealed new assessments, and when that post asks readers to check the county assessment web site for how much their taxes went up, don’t you think that some people are likely to get the wrong idea?
Elaine: Can you please update the article to make plain to readers that these taxes do not reflect the new assessments? Right now, readers have to read into the comments for that information.
Everyone: I’m just trying to help. Go back and re-read the main article. Do you think it’s possible for readers to get the wrong idea? If so, help them. Give them the context they need.
Cheers,
Tom
Two questions.
ReplyDeleteTom, how do you know "most people don't understand the issues like you do"? Seems to me anyone that writes checks for county, school district, municipal taxes and storm water fees understands the issues.
Richard, any idea on who is almost guaranteed 2.4+% pay raises?
Andy Bradford
Tom, I don't know how to make it any plainer. Assessments have been in the news, but I was not aware of any county tax increases for this year. I was blindsighted and I am willing to bet I was not the only one who was unaware of this year's increase. As David said, the name of the site that I was linking to is called "Allegheny County Assessment." I am truly not trying to confuse anyone. Where you lost me was that the increase is 21% and that is not a big deal.
ReplyDeleteElaine
To be clear,you said that it wasn't worth asking everyone how much their taxes went up. As I said, I am sorry I even brought this up. I need a nap.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Richard, any idea on who is almost guaranteed 2.4+% pay raises?
ReplyDeleteMr. Bradford:
Certainly. Various civil servants, funded courtesy of the profit-motivated sector of society.
Thank you RG. Those guaranteed raises virtually guarantee and endless cycle of higher taxes to cover the higher expenditures regardless of value or performance.
ReplyDeleteWould that be a "good understanding?"
Andy Bradford
And I am not at all sure that the quoted 2.4% inflation rate is the true CPI-U rate that includes food & energy components....in other words, the real world and not the political world the government wants you to believe. Anyone been to supermarkets and gas stations over the past few months, even weeks ?
ReplyDeleteBill Lewis
Mr. Lewis is spot-on! The grocery store is one of the best gauges of inflation in America, and most of us who are still breathing can tell you that based on its measurement 2011 inflation was quite a bit more than 3%.
ReplyDeleteMr. Bradford: Yes, that would be a very good understanding.
Hey, folks, I’m happy to participate in the conversation here, but would you do me a small favor? Please try to respond to what I actually wrote, not some straw-man argument I didn’t.
ReplyDeleteAndy: I didn’t say that most people don’t understand the issues like I do but like David Huston and Bill Lewis do. (I had addressed my response to them.) I think that’s a safe bet. Heck, Bill Lewis probably knows more about local government than local government does!
But if you want to see evidence that most people aren’t following these things, consider that even Elaine, who runs a local news blog, didn’t know about the county tax hike – she writes that she “was not aware of any county tax increases for this year. I was blindsighted...” This, despite that it’s been in the news plenty:
– Allegheny County Democrats raise taxes 21 percent to save services (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
– Allegheny County Council OKs 1-mill property tax hike (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
– Allegheny County Council Passes Property Tax Increase
(KDKA CBS Pittsburgh)
– Allegheny County Council Approves Budget With Property Tax Increase (WTAE ABC Pittsburgh)
Get it? It’s tricky stuff, with lots of moving parts. It’s easy for people, even informed people, to miss something.
Elaine: I didn’t say “that it wasn't worth asking everyone how much their taxes went up.” I asked, “What's so mysterious about the 2012 Allegheny County taxes that it's worth asking everyone how much theirs went up?” In other words, I was assuming that I had missed something important and that you could show me what it was if I asked you directly.
And, Elaine, if you want to make the main article clearer for readers who haven’t been following the details, why not add something like this: Please note that these taxes are not affected by the reassessment that’s in the news: it won’t kick in until the 2013 tax year at the earliest.
Cheers,
Tom
Here is an idea, Tom. Perhaps you can cover this on Blog-Lebo and word it any way you want. Heck, there are TWO of you running ONE blog and there is just little ol' me running this blog AND a website. In addition, I am doing the best I can recording municipal meetings while asking David Huston to record the school board meetings. Throw in there, a host of RTK requests. I tried to make the original post as simple as possible. I never expected this outcome from simple post. I really should have had that nap.
ReplyDeleteElaine
OK Tom, point taken except that what does all this have to do with the price of hay
ReplyDeleteElaine's original question of "How much did your county taxes go up?
Mine, yours and everyone else's in the county went up 21%. My new rain water bill adds another $96 to my annual fees to live here. Plus we have increases in municipal taxes, as yet determined school district taxes, coupled with "perhaps" state and federal taxes.
All of which could be drastically changed once again next year thru reassessments.
Maddening for the individual or business that must make plans to cover their future operating costs and price their goods and services accordingly.
Something entities that have the ability to "take" whatever they need don't seem to be able to fathom.
The school board was given an edict of sorts, Act 1, that attempted to instruct school boards to exercise some restraint in their spending. Of course, the powers left plenty of wiggle room through exemptions and exclusions. Which of course, ta da, the board is exercising.
Now Mr. Gideon speculates one needs at a minimum a 2.4% gain in income is needed just to stay even. From attending audit & finance meetings it appears earned income in MTL hasn't kepted up that pace. Mr. Matthews in one of his presentations mentioned that earned income was something like 2.2% for MTL.
ANdy Bradford
21% to the county...
ReplyDeleteAnd $96 to the Mt Lebanon Storm Water Slush Fund...
And the local tax raise...
And the school board tax raise that's surely going to happen... (which will make that 21% look like pocket change)...
And people are already clamoring for the State to bail out the Port Authority (again) which will mean a State tax increase...
I feel bad for anyone trying to open up a business in Mt Lebanon.
Jack,
ReplyDeleteHow many businesses have you seen close in Mt. Lebanon, just on Washington Rd.?
The Cyclops Building at 650 Washington Rd. hasn't paid property taxes for several years. Right now it doesn't even show up on either the old or the new assessment website.
John
John,
ReplyDeleteMy point exactly.
I read in Mt Lebanon magazine about a couple trying to open an ice cream shop on Washington Rd. It's something that would be a good addition to the landscape. Too bad people's discretionary income will be going to feed the monster that our local government has become.
And along the lines of the assessments, it's funny how Fitzgerald speaks out both sides of his mouth. He's not even in office, within hours of the ballots being counted and he's already calling for a raise in county taxes. Then, when the assessments come through, he vows to fight them. With duplicity like that, he's sure to be re-elected in a landslide.
Then he can take his "rightful" spot as an executive in some local company when that second term is over.
I am definitely in the wrong business.
Mr. Ewing, this is weird. Rollers, the place to shop in MTL is listed and located at 600 Washington.
ReplyDeleteStevenson Williams address is 666 Washington and doesn't show on the county site either.
Did they lose a whole section of Washington Road?
Dick Bachman
Dick,
ReplyDeleteThere are a number of errors & omissions and confusing info on the existing County assessment website. It makes you wonder how in the world we can have any trust or faith in reassessments we will be finding in our mailboxes supposedly within the next 2 weeks or so. Here are just a few existing assessment examples in "UPTOWN" along Washington Rd. :
1) no big deal, but Rolliers Hardware, actually located at 600 Washington Rd., is not shown as a listing for where 600 should be on the address listings for Washington Rd....it's listed at the begining page of Washington Rd. properties for which no addresses are indicated (141-A-024);
2) same for what used to be called the "Cyclops (for former Cyclops Steel)Building", owned by the 650 Washington Road Associates, not surprisingly actually located at 650 Washington Rd. (141-F-032);
3) the hotel under construction on Washington Rd. between the the 607 and 615 Washington Rd. office buildings is actually listed twice...1st. as a vacant property, and 2nd. as not vacant (141-B-149)...it was purchased on 5/22/2009, some 33 months ago, by Washington Road Hospitality Associates LP from the Parking Authority for $450,000 and is still listed as tax exempt and a "Township Government " property...why is it tax exempt for even the purchase price of the land ?
4) the "official" address of the Stevenson-Williams building, located at 666 Washington Rd. (141-F-040) is 664 Washington Rd...*the devil made them do it* !
5) the final example is the vacant Denis Theatre at 685 Washington Rd. (141-F-122) purchased from then Commissioner Raja for some $668,000 many moons ago by the Denis Theatre Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax exempt, nonprofit entity...yet the County lists it as taxable rather than tax exempt, and county taxes through 2011 have been paid and 2012 taxes have been assessed. The question is why ? Why is the tax exempt Denis taxed, and the Hotel, a taxable enterprise, not ?
There are probably reasons the County could put forward for this, but I'm not sure I for one would buy them. Remember, these are just a few examples along just a 3-block stretch of Washington Rd. I believe Lebo has some 50 miles of roadways...wonder what one could find along the remaining 49.6 miles ?
Bill Lewis
Bill, you are so right. There are commercial properties in MTL that sold for hundreds of thousands yet they are assessed below the average residential property.
ReplyDeleteYet we are as you point out expected to accept these numbers are accurate assessments once again.
Dick Bachman