Wednesday, April 11, 2012
'There is just no way to conduct a truly fair and accurate reassessment under current law,' state Rep. Jesse White said.
Last week, the state House of Representatives unanimously passed House Bill 2137, which imposes a statewide moratorium on all court-ordered property tax reassessments. If this sounds somewhat familiar to you, it’s because the House passed a nearly identical bill, House Bill 1696, last June. After inexplicably being amended in the State Senate, the bill was deemed unconstitutional and earned Governor Corbett’s first and only veto. But a whole lot has happened since last June, and now it appears both the public and the politicians are beginning to understand why a temporary moratorium on court-ordered reassessments is so important. The high-profile reassessment values imposed in Allegheny County were so outrageous, Allegheny County Executive…
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
"The Reassessment Task Force Report confirms what many of us have suspected all along, that the current reassessment system in Pennsylvania is a complete mess, but one that we now hope to get untangled once and for all," state Rep. Jesse White said.
- GOVERNMENT
-
Tuesday, April 10
A joint task force created under legislation authored by state Reps. Jesse White and Brandon Neuman has reported the findings of its six-month study regarding reforming the commonwealth's "flawed system of conducting property reassessments." The task force was established to create a set of uniform standards for reassessing property values in the commonwealth, including developing new procedures for collecting and verifying reassessment data, developing standards for county reassessment contracting, and making other recommendations to improve the commonwealth’s flawed reassessment system. The Property Reassessment Task Force Report, which is the first comprehensive examination of the reassessment process in Pennsylvania by all stakeholders…
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
State Rep. Jesse White said the current property tax reassessment system "has more holes in it than Swiss cheese."
- GOVERNMENT
-
Wednesday, April 4
Legislation that would impose a temporary moratorium on court-ordered countywide property tax reassessments in Pennsylvania passed the House Wednesday and is headed to the state Senate for further consideration. A similar bill passed both chambers last year but was vetoed by Gov. Tom Corbett after a Senate amendment applied the moratorium to Washington County only and eliminated the timetable for the moratorium. House Bill 2137 is part of a multi-bill package spearheaded by state Reps. Jesse White, D-Cecil, and Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane, to reform what both have called the state's "flawed method of reassessing property values" in order to protect homeowners from dramatic increases in property taxes. The bill has the support of the …
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
A panel of judges is expected to hear arguments within the next six months.
- GOVERNMENT
-
Wednesday, March 14
Washington County’s property tax reassessment case is back in front of the Commonwealth Court. The Observer-Reporter is reporting that Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Keith B. Quigley ordered the case to be heard before a panel of judges. Quigley vacated an earlier order to “quash the county's appeal as requested by the Washington and McGuffey school districts,” the paper reported. The panel is expected to hear arguments sometime within the next six months. The Washington County commissioners and some state lawmakers had also asked the court to hault a property tax reassessment until the Legislature can iron out issues with what has been described as a “flawed” system.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
State Rep. Jesse White said property tax reassessment is a complicated 'hot mess'—and explains the top three problems in the system that you need to understand.
A funny thing happened a few weeks ago—a whole bunch of people woke up and suddenly realized Pennsylvania’s property tax reassessment system is a hot mess. Unfortunately, the realization did not come with a full understanding of the problem, its origins or how we should try to fix things. The topic of reassessment is unbelievably complicated and most people don’t have the time to devote to unraveling its mysteries, so I thought I would lay out the three most important points you should know as this debate continues across Pennsylvania. First, of the myriad of problems with reassessments, there is one fundamental problem that needs to be dealt with before any county reassesses: We absolutely must close the loophole that prevents a …
40.1883
-80.234
State Rep. Jesse White
3855 Millers Run Road, Cecil, PA
/articles/let-s-avoid-the-reassessment-iceberg
1819720
/locations/6198409
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Judge R. Stanton Wettick ordered executives to continue with property assessments on Tuesday.
- GOVERNMENT
-
Wednesday, January 11
Allegheny County Judge R. Stanton Wettick has ordered residents to abide by new property reassessments and county executives to continue working on the process. On Tuesday, Wettick said residents who have already received the new assessments must abide by them, despite last week's declaration by County Executive Rich Fitzgerald that the numbers were "null and void." According to WPXI, Wettick decided not to hold Fitzgerald in contempt, but said he would hold county officials in contempt if they don't move forward with the reassessment process. Today, Wettick is scheduled to vote on a request from Pittsburgh City Council to delay using the values for another year, according to WPXI. “This order is just more evidence of the court …
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The inaugural meeting was held last week.
Two task forces created under legislation adopted by the House held a joint inaugural meeting last week to discuss Pennsylvania’s flawed system of conducting property reassessments. The legislation was authored by state Reps. Jesse White, D-Cecil, and Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane. White and Neuman were appointed by House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody to serve as the legislative appointees on the panels. White's task force is charged with developing a set of uniform standards for county reassessment contracting; developing standards for disclosing the county's system of property valuation and assessment; developing a self-evaluation tool for counties to determine when a reassessment is warranted; and recommending a standard to be …
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The League of Women Voters of Washington County featured candidates for Washington County commissioner and common pleas court judge.
Editor's Note: This story was corrected at 3:44 p.m. Wednesday. In its original form, the story indicated that Gary Gilman had tried 45 civil cases—only two since 1992. That was inaccurate. The year should have been 1998. We apologize for the error. Marcellus Shale drilling regulations and Washington County's looming property tax reassessment were the focus of much of the debate at a forum featuring candidates for commissioner and common pleas court at Washington & Jefferson College Monday. The forum, hosted by The League of Women Voters of Washington County, first featured the two candidates for common pleas judge—Republican Lane Turturice and Democrat Gary Gilman. In his opening statement, Turturice touted his hometown roots and the …
Friday, October 14, 2011
State Reps. Brandon Neuman and Jesse White were named to two task forces this week.
- GOVERNMENT
-
Friday, October 14, 2011
State Reps. Brandon Neuman and Jesse White have been appointed by House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody to serve on statewide reassessment task forces aimed at fixing Pennsylvania’s system of conducting property reassessments. For the past year, Neuman and White have been working to overhaul the reassessment system in Pennsylvania and are vocal opponents of the court-ordered $8 million county-wide property reassessment in Washington County. "Jesse White and Brandon Neuman recognize major problems with Pennsylvania’s fragmented system of reassessment. There is a lack of uniform standards, methods vary from county to county, and property data collection is inconsistent," Dermody said in a statement. Neuman will serve on a task force created…
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
In regard to property tax reassessment, state Rep. Jesse White asks: Does the phrase “your tax dollars at work” still apply when they are working against you?
- GOVERNMENT
-
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Anyone familiar with the recent history of Pennsylvania politics knows the phrases “legislator” and “appeared in court” usually equal bad news for the legislator in question. Last week, I had the unique opportunity to appear in the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County as a state representative for a much different reason. Even as the Legislature works on reforms, two school districts are pressing forward with a lawsuit designed to force an immediate reassessment on all of Washington County. Attorneys representing the McGuffey and Washington School Districts have been aggressively pursuing every avenue possible to mandate a reassessment under a system universally described by experts as fundamentally flawed. The situation is ludicrous…
Jerry D. Hill
7:25 am on Monday, October 24, 2011
Be sure and read this one, Gary. In his own words, he sent his own people to the gas chambers. If you think he won't send you, you're wrong. http://sweetness-light.com/archive/george-soros-on-helping-the-nazis-during-the-holocaust more ›