North Hills Community Meeting on Property Reassessments to be Held

An informational training session on how to appeal recent Allegheny County property reassessments will be held 2-4 p.m. Sunday at the Ross Township Municipal Center in the gymnasium. 

The meeting is being sponsored by Allegheny Councilman Matt Drozd and Ross Township Commissioner Lana Mazur. 

It was scheduled after . 

According to those who shared the details of their reassessments with Patch, the North Hills is facing the same disparities that those in the city faced when they received their notices earlier this year. 

"My house increased from $76K to $115K," Diane Conover . "The county added a gas fireplace and a wood fireplace. I would love to have those things. I asked my husband when the construction was starting to comply with the county's assessment." 

Jocelyn Tait, commenting on Patch's Facebook wall, said she saw a 30 percent increase in her assessment. 

"The assessment is almost as high on my old house in disrepair as the new house next door with three times the square footage and city water (I'm on a well). I have no idea how I am going to afford the increase." 

Drozd, a Ross Township resident, told Patch earlier this month the week the notices were sent out that he was hearing similar stories.

"People are getting unbelievable assessments," he said, including himself in the examples.

Of four lots he owns next to each other on the North Side, for example, he said two tripled in value, one quadrupled and another was cut in half. 

"This is one councilman who will continue to fight on behalf of the property owners against these ridiculous assessments," he said. 

The meeting Sunday will be held in the gymnasium. 

Today is the deadline for filing for an informal review. 

Informal reviews are more causal than a formal appeal, and give you a chance to review information about your property one-on-one with someone from the county, said Amie Downs, the communication director for Allegheny County. 

Depending on the information you provide (showing that the inside of the property is markedly different from the image from the curb, for example), there is a chance that you may resolve your concerns quickly. 

"The informal review allows you to focus just on your property," Downs said. 

The deadline for filing a formal appeal is April 2.