On June 15 Lebanon County began to issue thousands of notices of reassessment to all property taxpayers in the county informing them of changes in their properties’ assessments for 2013. Property taxpayers will have forty days from the date of the notice to evaluate the change in their assessment and determine whether an appeal is warranted. The reassessment in Lebanon County continues to be a busy year of reassessments, with similar revaluations in Bedford, Erie, Lehigh and Allegheny Counties. Additional reassessments by other counties are likely in the future. Of course, dealers need not wait for a notice of reassessment to challenge the assessment on a dealership property – it can be done each year if the dealer disagrees with the county’s determination of value.

If the dealership recently received a notice of reassessment, the dealer should carefully check three items in the notice:

• the new assessed value of the dealership property;
• the previous assessed value of the dealership property; and
• the deadline for filing an appeal.

The new assessed value is the county’s determination of the dealership property’s fair market value. The previous assessed value is the fair market value of the dealership's property at the time of the last reassessment, and therefore does not equal current fair market value. Consequently, an increase in the dealership property’s assessed value does not necessarily mean that your taxes will increase.

If a dealer suspects the increase in the assessed value of the dealership property will result in a tax increase, the dealer should consider an appeal. Because the deadline to file an appeal is limited, time is of the essence. McNees has an experienced real estate tax team with over twenty years in the field to help a dealership evaluate its assessment notice and decide whether to file an appeal. Don’t delay – time is limited!

The McNees State and Local Tax Group provides Pennsylvania state and local tax representation and assists clients with multi-state tax planning and dispute resolution. McNees is prepared to advise and represent clients in all areas of state and local taxation, including sales, business, transportation, insurance and real estate taxes. Please contact the McNees State and Local Tax Group, if you need tax assistance at (717) 232-8000, or at www.mwn.com. 

© 2012 McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC
AUTO NOTES is presented with the understanding that the publisher does not render specific legal, accounting or other professional service to the reader. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the law, information contained in this publication may become outdated. Anyone using this material must always research original sources of authority and update this information to ensure accuracy and applicability to specific legal matters. In no event will the authors, the reviewers or the publisher be liable for any damage, whether direct, indirect or consequential, claimed to result from the use of this material.