Lackawanna County reassessment project arrives in Scranton
Dec. 19—SCRANTON — As he put up Christmas lights outside his home on West Market Street in North Scranton, Tim Kline indicated he is something of a reassessment skeptic.
He said he understands the comprehensive property revaluation now underway in Lackawanna County — the county's first since 1968 — will ideally lead in the end to everyone paying their equitable share of real estate taxes.
"I hope so. That will be good news if that's the case," Kline, 52, said. "But it doesn't always work out that way. I'm just waiting to see what happens."
On Monday, Kline's home became one of the first in Scranton visited by Tyler Technologies, the company performing the reassessment for the county, as the process of gathering data for the project moved into the city.
The county commissioners hired Tyler in May for almost $5.2 million to develop updated property values for the roughly 107,000 parcels in the county. The assessed values are used by local governments and school districts to calculate the real estate taxes owners pay each year.
In the more than half-century since the last reassessment, the county's assessed values have grown wildly out of kilter, resulting in some property owners paying more than their fair share of taxes and others paying less.
Chris Gerancher, appraiser project supervisor for Tyler, said the company has eight data collectors working in the city, starting in North Scranton. They will eventually get to every section of the city.
In each instance, he said, the collector's first step is to see if the property owner is home and if possible gather basic information about the residence, such as the year built, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, type of heating, whether basement or attic is finished and whether there has been any remodeling in the past decade.
"It's a chance to get a good idea of the home," Gerancher said.
As Garrett Kosierowski, a Tyler residential group leader, canvassed properties in the 1000 and 1100 blocks of West Market early Monday afternoon, most of the doors went unanswered.
In those cases, Kosierowski moved on and collected information about the exterior of the homes, taking measurements, making diagrams and noting features such as construction materials, garages, swimming pools and fences.
Kosierowski, who joined Tyler in August, said he enjoys the work, even when conditions are less than ideal as they were Monday. As he walked around homes taking measurements, snow crunched under his feet and a blustery wind blew through the neighborhood.
"Even in the bad weather, it's nice to be out in the fresh air," he said.
At one home, the occupant of a rental unit tried to answer Kosierowski's questions but then told him he would be uncomfortable with Tyler taking exterior measurements. Kosierowski thanked him and continued on to the next home.
"So not a bad encounter," Gerancher said. "That's his prerogative."
In the 1100 block of West Market, Nicole Murray, 30, came to the door at her parents' home and answered Kosierowski's questions as best she could.
She acknowledged afterward she was unaware a reassessment was underway.
"I get the concept of it, but I really don't know anything about it," Murray said.
Tyler began its data collection in the Downvalley in July, and Gerancher said the company has found the public by and large has a good grasp of what the process is and why the county is undertaking a reassessment.
"People have a pretty good understanding of what is going on," he said.
He attributed that to educational outreach by both Tyler and the county. More information about reassessment is available online by visiting empower.tylertech.com/Lackawanna-County-Pennsylvania.
Kline, who has resided in his North Scranton neighborhood his whole life, said it seems city residents pay higher taxes than other areas, but he'll settle for fairness.
"I'm sure it's due," he said of reassessment. "The only thing I'm worried about is that it's fair."
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132
