White Files Special Legal Brief in Washington County Reassessment Case
The lawmaker urges McGuffey and Washington School Districts to "put away taxpayer’s checkbook."
State Rep. Jesse White this week filed a 284-page legal brief to discuss pending and recently passed state legislation that would support the Washington County Commissioners' motion to temporarily block an $8 million county-wide property reassessment.
Earlier this month, White, D-Washington/Allegheny/Beaver, won permission from Washington County Court to submit an "amicus curiae" brief, which is highly unusual for a case at the county level.
"I filed this brief on behalf of every taxpayer who is sick of their dollars being treated like Monopoly money," White said. "If McGuffey and Washington School Districts get their way and force this reassessment, every property from Baltic Avenue to Boardwalk and Park Place will be at risk of devastating tax increases."
In his brief, White argues that "failure to grant the stay and allow the forced reassessment under the current, fundamentally flawed system would cause irreparable financial harm to taxpayers while simultaneously crippling business growth and economic development with no recognizable benefit to the public or the interests of justice."
White added that legal fees for the lawsuit have already cost taxpayers more than $30,000—on top of the projected $8 million cost to conduct the reassessment.
White, a licensed attorney who prepared and presented the petition himself at no taxpayer expense, attended the recent McGuffey School Board meeting to provide the board with an update on his reassessment brief and appealed to them to halt its legal actions.
"I want all of us to work together in the best interest of the taxpayer, but so far McGuffey and Washington have been silent on the issue while refusing to put away the taxpayer's checkbook," White said. "The irony is they are spending taxpayer dollars to force a reassessment that will hurt taxpayers."
Washington County is under a court order to conduct a property reassessment as the result of lawsuits filed by the McGuffey and Washington school districts.
The commissioners argue that the reassessment should not take place until the legislature makes changes to correct flaws in the reassessment process, which are anticipated in the coming months.
For the past year, White has been actively working to overhaul the reassessment system in Pennsylvania.
He helped author legislation that would have imposed a temporary moratorium on county-wide property tax reassessments in Washington County. That bill was passed by the Legislature but vetoed by Gov. Tom Corbett.
In addition, he and state Rep. Brandon Neuman successfully won the Legislature's approval of two bills, which have established task forces to study the county reassessment process and develop uniform standards among other things to streamline the system.
The task forces' findings will be released by the end of 2011. White and Neuman have also authored several other reassessment reform bills which are still pending in the Legislature.
Editor's Note: View the attached PDF to read White's brief.
bigrigroberto
10:54 pm on Wednesday, September 28, 2011
So, you're in favor of what your savior Obama is proposing, which will have "devastating" impacts on ALL citizens, yet you don't want locals to pay their "fair share"? You spend irresponsibly in Harrisburg but you don't want taxpayers to make up the difference? You're a confused little man.
Alexander M. Cianfracco
8:10 am on Thursday, September 29, 2011
What are you talking about? That doesn't even make any sense. Obama had nothing to do with the article, and you have no clue what you're talking about. That "confused little man" has been working his butt off to keep our taxes low.
bigrigroberto
10:15 am on Thursday, September 29, 2011
White is constantly berating all Republicans and touting the genius of the Democart party, including at the federal level. It's a shame you can't understand what i like to call "a point". And actually, I do have a clue, sir. White can't have it both ways. He either wants higher taxes or he wants lower taxes but he can't have both. His duplicity can easily be mistaken for confusion but I was giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Jesse White, State Representative, 46th District
7:42 pm on Thursday, September 29, 2011
With all due respect, sir, that simply isn't true. I have worked on the reassessment issue in a very bi-partisan way, with Commissioner Diana Irey-Vaughn at the county level and Representatives Rick Saccone and Senator John Pippy at the state level. At no point have I demonized or berated one party or the other on this issue. To me, the level of bi-partisan cooperation drove home how important this was to all taxpayers, Democrat, Republican or Independent.
I believe that a reassessment forced through under the current flawed system will result in higher taxes across the board, which is why I'm trying to stop this reassessment until the reforms we are trying to implement are completed. I believe you are drawing your own partisan political conclusions on an issue that has been decidedly bi-partisan, which is disingenuous and incorrect.
bigrigroberto
9:43 am on Friday, September 30, 2011
Nice try but I wasn't referring to the assessment issue. I was referring to your ridiculous online posts that appear on a regular basis. The fact that you have to tout your "bi-partisan" approach on an issue that affects everyone, regardless of party affiliation, is telling. To your point, I say so what? You're SUPPOSED to be working for all people, jot just those in your party. So we're all expected to pat you on the back for doing your job? If you and others can work together to address potential problems with the way the assessments are implemented, great. But please don't wave your efforts ilke some kind of a banner under which your supporters should rally. You're being paid (by all of us) to do a job. So go do it.