2023 Might Be The Best Year Ever To Appeal Your Property Taxes in Allegheny County!

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Please rise. Court is now in session.

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I strenuously object. A legal podcast brought to you by the Pittsburgh law from a Flaherty

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Fardo is now in session.

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We interrupt this program to bring you a special report.

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Welcome everyone to a special and hopefully brief edition of I strenuously object. It's

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a new year and it's new tax appeal season. And we're going to find out today why 2023

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may well be, probably is, the best chance for a property owner in Allegheny County to

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file an appeal to reduce their assessment and save money on their taxes.

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Yeah, look, I think this is crazy. I think if you own a property, commercial or residential

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property in Allegheny County, and you're not having a professional analyze your assessment

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to see if you can lower your property taxes, you're probably wasting money.

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People don't turn down money. It's what separates us from the animals.

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You know, every January for 22 years, it's, it means something. And what it means to people

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in western Pennsylvania is it is tax appeal season. And it is the same length as deer

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hunting season. Did you know that?

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No, that's a big old negative.

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So deer hunting season and tax appeal season, two very big things in Pennsylvania. They're

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both three months long. And most of the counties around us, Bill, actually give you until September.

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Did you know that one?

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I did not know that either.

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So very short season, but a great opportunity this year. And every time we talk, I feel

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like we're talking about breaking news and tax appeals. Does it feel like that?

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I mean, that's because we're in such flux right now. Sometimes it feels like we're talking

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about breaking news, except there isn't actually any news to report.

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But there is news to report today. I just don't feel comfortable talking about tax appeals

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without having Nicole.

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All right. So coming to help the podcast out and bring us a batch of information and her

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experience is the queen of tax appeals. Nicole Houtman-Amit, who, who listeners to the podcast

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are well acquainted with by now, our partner and, you know, one of the, if not the foremost

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attorneys doing tax appeals on behalf of owners in this county and a Bill's fan on the cusp

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of the playoff. So hopefully by the time this podcast drops, her bills are still alive.

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But we'll find out one way or another soon enough. So Nicole, welcome.

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Thank you. Good morning. Go Bills.

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Happy to talk about assessment appeals and beginning of tax appeal season, as you said.

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I told Bill it's breaking news. Would you, what is going on? Can you explain to us what

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is happening right now, early January, 2023?

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Well, what's happening as we sit here today is they have resumed B par hearings. So the

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first level of the appeals process, we're now doing hearings for appeals that were filed

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last year because everything was so delayed. So that's kind of the only thing that's happening

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today. The breaking news that I'll say is on January 17th, the Allegheny County council

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has a special meeting with their assessment board. And what they will be considering is

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reopening the 2022 appeal window this year. So basically allowing property owners now

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in January of 2023 to file appeals to challenge the 2022 assessment on their property, which

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is something that I don't believe has ever happened before to allow them, property owners,

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the opportunity to file appeals for past tax years. I'm not sure that that's ever happened

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before. So that's kind of the breaking news component component today. We'll have more

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answers on that next week.

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Hey, Bill, do you appreciate the significance of what she just said? I mean, this has never

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happened before.

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And now for something completely different.

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Oh, yeah. I mean, and there's like everything else involving the 2022 tax assessment situation.

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There's a bunch of legal wrangling going on. There are people with the county who are saying,

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look, I don't care what county council decides. I don't think they have the authority to open

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the appeals period back up. So we'll find out. I'm not sure that we're set for a final

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answer. But after months of different members of council and different people in the in

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the local scene suggesting, advocating and making proposals for reopening the appeal

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period, it looks like we're finally moving towards at least a first step, if not a last

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step towards actually accomplishing that. And it is it's it is unprecedented, at least

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in the last 20 years of county property tax appeals.

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Yeah. Lowering your property taxes in Allegheny County isn't easy because not only do they

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give you only 90 days as opposed to nine months, but they never allow you to go to previous

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years. And that's what's happening next week. We're going to find out whether you can actually

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not only appeal now, but also last year.

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So here's the thing on that, right? We're expecting one way or another, even if it's

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not final, to have some news to report again next week. And guessing about what that's

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going to be now probably isn't the most productive use of the podcast or Nicole's time. I think

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what we should do right now is say, look, 2022 remains in flux, but it's 2023 now. And

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whatever they end up doing with the 2022 appeal season, 2023 is set. And it's like the prior

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years, right, where we have this three month period at the beginning of the year where

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the school district is able to file appeals or property owners are able to file appeals.

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But this 2023 appeal period is different because I think it's opening an opportunity for owners

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to appeal more than any time we've seen in this 20 years. Nicole, does that seem right?

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It does. And just to close the loop on the Allegheny County Council, I do think it's

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going to pass from what I've been reading and seeing. So that will be something maybe

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we can do an episode on next week once we have some answers on that. But yes, for 2023,

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there's much more certainty. So happy to talk about that today. We know what the ratio is.

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We know when the deadlines are. So it's much easier to sit down and figure out whether

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or not a property is overassessed for the 2023 tax year right now.

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I want to know what this all means to people who have already been appealed, who are under

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appeal. But in addition to that, I mean, we're saying that 2023 might be the best year ever

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to lower your property taxes. Can you tell us why?

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For 2023, the ratio has been lowered from where it has been in previous years. The ratio

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for 2023 is sixty three point six percent. And that's the common level ratio. That's

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the ratio that applies to looking at a current market value on a property and what the appropriate

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assessment value would be. So if we think a property is worth one hundred thousand dollars

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as of January 1st, 2023, you would apply the ratio of sixty three point six percent and

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that property would properly be assessed at sixty three thousand six hundred dollars.

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So that's kind of an easy way to explain how that ratio works. The ratio in the past years

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has been in the 90s and the high 80s. And then all of a sudden kind of went off a cliff

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here and now we're in the low 60s. That's a function of a couple of things, which you

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can get into if you want. But basically what it's doing, it's allowing property owners

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more of an advantage than they've had in the past 20 years because the ratio is lower.

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So if you can show that your property assessment is too high looking at that ratio, this is

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the best year to file an appeal that there has been because the ratio that applies would

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basically give you a much lower value than it has in the past 20 years.

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OK, so let's say I'm a property owner who hasn't had a reason to appeal one way or the

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other. Right. How do I know whether or not I would be a good candidate to file an appeal

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in this watershed year of 2023? What sorts of things should I be considering?

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Well again, for 2023 appeals, we're looking at the value of your property as of January

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1st, 2023. So you'd have to figure out what your property is worth. You can do that by

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getting an appraisal done. You can do that by looking at comparable sales in your area.

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Obviously the market has changed significantly based on the COVID situation. So you have

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to take that into account. Things seem to be cooling off now because of the mortgage

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interest rates. So there's different ways of looking at that. But basically to have

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a case, you would need to file the appeal and then show the current market value of

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my property is $200,000, say as an example, and then show why you think that is. So what

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we do for property owners is find research of other properties that have recently sold

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on the same street in the same area, basically showing why you think the current market value

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of your property would support a reduction. So kind of Cliff's note's version here, what

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you should be thinking about, and it's not the whole consideration necessarily, right?

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But what you should be thinking about is not, is my property today worth more than what

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it's assessed at? But is my property today, and then taking 60 or 70% of that number,

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is that number less than what I'm currently assessed at? And if it is, you might be a

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good candidate for appeal.

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Yes. You are not supposed to be assessed at 100% of the value of your property because

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Allegheny County uses a 2012 base year. And one way of kind of figuring out theoretically

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what your property was worth then is by using this common level ratio. That's why that ratio

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is not 100%. That's why it's now 63.6%. So yes, you kind of need to do a little math

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to kind of back that in to see what your current assessment suggests as a current market value

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for your property and determine if you think that's too high.

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Hey Nicole, just explain a little bit about the 2022 common level ratio and where is that

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at and how has it changed?

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So when the 2022 ratio first came out, it was 81.1%. That's what it was back in June

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of 2021, which is when that came out. And that's what it was when all the appeals were

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filed in the beginning of 2022. So when school districts and owners were filing appeals,

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they were filing appeals based on the idea that the ratio was 81.1%. At the end of April

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in 2022, Judge Hertzberg came out with an order based on a lawsuit that had already

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been pending for a while saying, this is wrong basically. The ratio should be lower. And

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that litigation is still ongoing. But in September of this year, Judge Hertzberg issued an order

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of court saying, no, the ratio for 2022 is actually 63.5%. So it's been a lot of chaos,

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but that has since been challenged to the Commonwealth Court. That's still pending.

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So to answer your question in a really long way, the ratio for 2022 is not, I wouldn't

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say it's finalized yet, just because that litigation is ongoing. And I certainly don't

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know what will happen there. I don't think anyone does, but I imagine it will be somewhere

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between 63.5% and 81.1%. And that's why I was saying before, we have a lot more certainty

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with this year. We already know what the ratio is. So it's a lot easier to kind of look at

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cases now to determine whether or not an appeal makes sense.

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Nicole, just a couple more hopefully quick questions. We talked about how you know if

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you're a candidate for an appeal in 2023. And we also talked about the lingering uncertainty

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about 2022. Now, if I've got a pending 2022 appeal, how does that affect whether I should

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or should not appeal in 2023?

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So if you have a pending appeal, and again, those are still being heard, but there's no

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reason you have to file a new appeal. If something were to happen that you need to preserve your

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right, you can file an appeal of that appeal to the board of viewers. And a board of viewers

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appeal would include then 2022 and automatically include 2023. Now, what the school district

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did when the ratios were in flux is they withdrew a lot of 2022 appeals for people that might

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actually have cases to reduce their taxes. So certainly you need to know where your case

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is to understand whether or not you need to file an appeal. If something's pending, you

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should be good. If something was withdrawn, or nothing was pending, then definitely it's

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something to look into.

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Okay, so when you say pending, I know there were a bunch of delays in the first level

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BPAR hearings last year. Are there still cases yet to be heard before BPAR that are for 2022

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appeals?

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Yes, that's what we're doing in the next couple months here.

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And if you have one of those, it is still possible that the school district right up

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to the day that you have your hearing chooses to withdraw their appeal, correct?

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That's correct. I believe their intention is to have all of those scheduled by the end

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of February. So the deadline to file a 2023 appeal currently is March, at the end of March,

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March 31st. So you would still have an opportunity. But I think you highlight something important

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where sometimes people don't know where their case is, what's going on with it. Certainly

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it's important to make sure you're aware of all deadlines, understand the status of your

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case today, because if you miss a deadline, you're out of luck for this year.

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That's right. And if you've got a appeal that's pending before BPAR now and the school district

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withdraws it, but you've been waiting because you have an appeal pending and then the school

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district withdraws and it's after the deadline, you're out of luck for 2023, you might miss

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your chance. So I think it's important that you know where precisely you are with your

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pending appeal, because it may well be depending on how many cases are still pending towards

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the end of this three month period, that a bunch of people with pending 2022 appeals

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actually still should file 2023 appeals. Correct. And again, that's going to depend on

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what happens. But as you highlighted there, school districts, if they were the appellant,

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can unilaterally withdraw the appeal. So if you're a property owner waiting for that hearing

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to say, I want a reduction, the school district, even at the hearing can say, actually, I'm

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going to withdraw this case. And there's nothing you can do to stop them from doing that. So

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again, highlighting the real importance of understanding where you are and understanding

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the deadlines.

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No more questions. I mean, I think the only two things property owners really want to

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know is number one, where can they find their assessment? How do I know what I'm assessed

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at? And so we put that on our website at pghfirm.com. You can see what your assessment is. And then

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can one of you tell me how to do the math? If the ratio for 2023 is 63.6% and I'm assessed

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at $300,000, how do you do the math backwards to see where I'm at?

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So Noah, to answer your first question, there is a county website that has the assessment

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information for every property in the county. We do have that information on our website,

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again, pghfirm.com. And then in terms of doing the math backwards, I do it like a toddler

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would do it, where I look at, say your property is assessed at 300,000, I go 450 times 63.6%

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to see what that gives me. But another way of kind of evaluating a case would be, I think

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my property is worth $500,000. Take $500,000 times by the ratio for this year, which is

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63.6% and see what that gives you as an assessment value, because that's going to give you a

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good idea or at least a ballpark of where you should be as well.

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That is one precocious toddler. All right. Thanks, Nicole. That should about do it for

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this episode of I strenuously object. Thanks again to Nicole Heltman-Amec for joining us

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today and for just unloading information upon us. Hopefully you've learned something and

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hopefully you're thinking now about how it is that you can save money on your property

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taxes in the year of opportunity that is 2023. Please subscribe to the podcast, rate us,

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review us, tell your friends about us, especially those who also own property and could stand

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to save some money. If you have questions for our mailing it in segment or any feedback

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whatsoever for the podcast, you can email us at iobject at pghfirm.com. You can visit

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our Instagram at i strenuously object podcast or for any more information on property tax

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appeals or other matters, you can visit the website of our firm, Flaherty Farto. That's

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at pghfirm.com. Until next time, some parting advice.

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Go Bills, squish the fish, hold emails. I know dolphins are mammals, but you know, squish

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the fish. Noah, are we adjourned? We are adjourned.

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