After 50 years, property values are being re-assessed in Mercer County.

 

This has some property owners worried their property taxes will go up.

 

Employees with Tyler Technologies are reassessing property values in Mercer County working in a clockwise spiral. They were in Hermitage, and are in Sharon now, and will finish up in Mercer Borough. 

 

"We have to physically visit every location. If we don't find someone at home, we leave a door hanger with some basic information we need to have answered by the property owners," Rita Yannayon, Project Manager for the Mercer County Reassessment Project said. 

 

 She says workers will wear a vest like the one she has on, have an ID, as well as a tablet to collect information, and will never ask to go inside their home. Their pictures can be found on the company's website.

 

They will take a picture of the front of your home, business, or complex, and the back of the structures, and take measurements to determine how many square feet are in your home.

 

Many municipalities in Mercer do not have building codes so no permit is needed to put on an addition, tear down, and build a larger garage, so the process of determining property upgrades is more difficult than in areas with building code requirements. 

 

A lot has changed in 50 years so workers for Tyler Technologies are looking for up-to-date information so accurate assessments can be made. 

 

Things like a finished basement, an addition to your house, or tearing down a garage to build a bigger one count

The company will also compare sales data in the county and neighborhood for 30 months.

 

About 1/3 will see property values decrease, 1/3 should remain about the same and 1/2 are expected to have higher assessments. There are a few opportunities to appeal the values.

 

This means taxes could go up or down or stay the same for property owners.

 

When you get the new assessed value there are opportunities to contest the finding.

 

"There's an opportunity when the workers are at the door. There's the opportunity when we sent out a data mailer to confirm the information we did collect. The opportunity when an interim notice is sent out or a tentative notice of value," Yannayon said. 

 

There's an informal review and one additional formal appeal before the reassessment takes effect in 2027.

 

Property owners can file an appeal with the county if they disagree with the assessment value.

 

Mercer Commissioners will be choosing a panel to hear those appeals. 

 

The school districts and other taxing entities can file appeals to have taxes increased for property owners.

 

This can happen when a home sells for much more than a similar home on the same street or in the same neighborhood, yet that almost identical house is valued at much lower than the sale price. 

 

Tyler Technologies has an office in the basement of the Mercer County Courthouse across from the Human Resources office.

 

The phone number for that office is 724-662-7549.

 

The Email is MercerCountyPa@TylerTech.com 

 

Mercer County, Pennsylvania's website has a link to the company's website.