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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY WHITE, DEASY, D. COSTA, DERMODY, FRANKEL, GERGELY, HORNAMAN, KORTZ, MATZIE, NEUMAN, M. SMITH AND FABRIZIO, JANUARY 24, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 24, 2011 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Providing for a temporary moratorium of court-ordered countywide |
2 | reassessments and for reforms based upon study. |
3 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
4 | hereby enacts as follows: |
5 | Section 1. Short title. |
6 | This act shall be known and may be cited as the Property Tax |
7 | Reassessment Moratorium Act. |
8 | Section 2. Purpose. |
9 | The General Assembly finds and declares as follows: |
10 | (1) The method of property tax assessment in this |
11 | Commonwealth is fragmented and in need of reform. |
12 | (2) The current method provides for little uniformity |
13 | between counties resulting in vast inequities of property |
14 | assessments across this Commonwealth. |
15 | (3) Further, the tax assessment system provides little |
16 | protection for homeowners who experience sudden and dramatic |
17 | increases in their property assessments as a result of a |
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1 | countywide assessment. |
2 | (4) Failure to address the problem has led to the |
3 | potential for devastating tax increases that would be harmful |
4 | to the citizens and economic well-being of this Commonwealth. |
5 | Section 3. Definitions. |
6 | The following words and phrases when used in this act shall |
7 | have the meanings given to them in this section unless the |
8 | context clearly indicates otherwise: |
9 | "Local taxing authority." Any political subdivision |
10 | authorized to impose real property taxes. |
11 | Section 4. Study. |
12 | A study was conducted of the Commonwealth's property |
13 | assessment system. The study addressed the proper policies and |
14 | procedures necessary to ensure uniformity among counties and a |
15 | comparative analysis of the property assessment systems in other |
16 | states. The study concluded that changes are needed, and the |
17 | General Assembly shall enact legislation to address issues |
18 | raised by the study. |
19 | Section 5. Moratorium. |
20 | (a) Prohibition.--No local taxing authority may undertake, |
21 | on or after the effective date of this section, the process of a |
22 | court-ordered countywide reassessment of real property for |
23 | purposes of levying property taxes; however, counties currently |
24 | conducting a court-ordered countywide reassessment as of the |
25 | effective date of this section may, at the discretion of the |
26 | county, continue the process. |
27 | (b) End of prohibition.--The prohibition under subsection |
28 | (a) shall remain in effect until the General Assembly has |
29 | enacted legislation to address the declarations contained in |
30 | section 2 or until November 30, 2012, whichever comes first. |
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1 | Section 6. This act shall take effect immediately. |
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