24-04-2025
Reassessment notices arriving in Schuylkill mailboxes
POTTSVILLE — County residents have started to receive their change of value notices for reassessment.
The first batch of notices has been sent, confirmed Tim Barr, project director for Vision Government Solutions, the Massachusetts-based company hired in December 2022 to do a countywide reassessment.
'We want to help people,' he said of any residents who have questions.
Residents will have the chance to appeal valuations in July through October. Property owners will have the chance to ask specific, parcel-related questions about data collected during the informal review process.
Informal reviews and formal appeal hearings will be held at the former Schuylkill Transportation building at 252 Industrial Park Road in the Saint Clair Industrial Park .
Residents can schedule informal reviews by phone by calling 1-800-525-9876 or by visiting the website,
Barr, who has been conducting property reassessment work in Pennsylvania for 40 years, said the purpose of reassessment is to ensure tax fairness.
'The whole point of the reassessment is to bring uniformity to this,' he said, adding their will be errors they find in the data, which will be corrected as needed.
That means that two homes with similar valuations, as set by the current conditions and market values, should be taxed at the same rates.
The reassessment is required as part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Community Justice Project on behalf of Schuylkill County property owners. The nonprofit contends the county's current tax assessments violate state law.
The last countywide reassessment was conducted in 1996.
In some cases taxes went up, and in others they decreased, he said. Commissioner Larry Padora said he is taking calls from constituents, with some questioning the veracity of the information since their taxes went down.
Taxes will not be affected until 2026, when the valuations take effect.
The county will mail official change of assessment notices to property owners by July 1.
