Emotions running high among taxpayers ** On the phone, in person and onl...

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Emotions running high among taxpayers ** On the phone, in person and online, residents weigh in with despair, anger
Morning Call - Allentown, Pa. Author: Samantha Marcus Date: Feb 29, 2012 Start Page: A.5 Section: News Text Word Count: 763 Document Text Pamela Horvath has been trained to deal with angry and defiant taxpayers. But some of the people who were calling or visiting the Lehigh County assessment office Tuesday were neither angry nor defiant. They were crying. Elderly people on fixed incomes. Young parents on single incomes. The county's first reassessment in 21 years had left them stunned by tax increases that would cost them hundreds of additional dollars a year. The crying "breaks your heart," said Horvath, who was treating those calls with a soft touch. "A lot of people just want to be listened to and not pushed off." Horvath's work station put her on the front lines of the stream of people walking into the office Tuesday, a day thousands of Lehigh County property owners were reeling from twin jolts -- a reassessment and a new tax estimate. The county's assessment office was the epicenter of all the frustration, confusion and despair. The impact started Monday afternoon, as reassessment notices with the fates of more than 125,000 properties hit mailboxes across the county. The first wave of website visitors and callers followed, and the assessment office-turned-customer call center erupted virtually overnight. By Tuesday morning, 800 people had phoned the assessment office and 750 had filed for informal reviews. The fifth-floor assessment office deals in property values. But taxes are the bottom line for property owners. More than half of the county's properties' taxes will go down. But taxes are increasing for the other 45 percent. And they typically were the ones lighting up phones and shooting off emails -- many convinced they were being gouged or unfairly assessed compared with neighbors. Francis Unger, the county's director of real estate, likes to say value is more opinion than exact science. He was around 20 years ago, the last time the county reassessed properties. That generated 700 informal reviews and 1,000 formal appeals before the Board of Assessment Appeals. Near the end of the day Tuesday, 26,068 people had checked their property records online and 1,697 had requested informal reviews. Property owners have until March 16 to request a chance to sit down with an assessor and dispute their assessment. Ninety percent of the people county employee Michelle Daddona had spoken with were upset but taking the news in stride, she said, while the other 10 percent were steaming mad about their taxes, the economy or government in general. Dave and Mary Jean Minarovic were in the Lehigh County assessment office to be sure. "The letter said they [taxes] should go down, and I don't like the word should," she said. During their visit the Bethlehem homeowners were told they will enjoy a $600 tax cut. "Maybe it's our lucky day today," she said. Barbara Wittwer, 86, tugged at her husband, who was lingering at the front counter. "Come out, get out of here before they change their minds," she told Jakob. The Wittwers said they lost all their belongings in communist Romania and came to the East Coast in 1955, where Jakob worked for $1 a day as a shoemaker. Tuesday, they learned their Salisbury Township home would drop $500 in taxes.

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Emotions running high among taxpayers ** On the phone, in person and onl...

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"Anything they say goes down for me, I'll take it," Barbara Wittwer said. Before reassessment the county decided tax rates would be applied to 100 percent of fair market value, not 50 percent. The rates are being lowered to compensate, but the entire process is a recipe for confusion for many. Roberta Frederick submitted a request to review her reassessment, which doubled from $81,000 in 1991 -- adjusted to 100 percent -- to $164,000. Her taxes are projected to increase $875 for 2013. "I can see it going up but not doubling like that," Frederick, 62 and retired, said at the assessment office. "They're driving people out." The real estate climate increased the likelihood someone with a home in her price range, between $100,000 and $200,000, would see a tax increase compared to someone whose home is valued more than $250,000. More than 75 percent of homes assessed higher than $300,000 will see tax decreases, according to county reassessment data. samantha.marcus@mcall.com 610-820-6583 Credit: By Samantha Marcus Of The Morning Call Credit: By Samantha Marcus Of The Morning Call [Illustration] Caption: **1. Francis Unger, director of real estate for the Lehigh County Assessment Office, answers assessment rate questions for Roberta Frederick of Salisbury Township on Tuesday. Hundreds of people were checking on their recently reassessed properties. **2. Lori Hill answers a Bethlehem couple's questions about their assessment notice in the Lehigh County Assessment Office. [2 Photos by HARRY FISHER, THE MORNING CALL]
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Abstract (Document Summary) Horvath's work station put her on the front lines of the stream of people walking into the office Tuesday, a day thousands of Lehigh County property owners were reeling from twin jolts -- a reassessment and a new tax estimate. Before reassessment the county decided tax rates would be applied to 100 percent of fair market value, not 50 percent.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

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7/22/2012 7:31 AM