SECOND CLASS COUNTY ASSESSMENT LAW
                 Act of Jun. 21, 1939, P.L. 626, No. 294              Cl. 53
                                  AN ACT

     Providing for and regulating the assessment and valuation of all
        subjects of taxation in counties of the second class;
        creating and prescribing the powers and duties of a Board of
        Property Assessment, Appeals and Review; imposing duties on
        certain county and city officers; abolishing the board for
        the assessment and revision of taxes in such counties; and
        prescribing penalties.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  In order to more efficiently and equitably assess
     and value persons, property and subjects of taxation for county
     purposes in counties of the second class and for the use of
     those municipal and quasi-municipal corporations which levy
     their taxes on county assessments and valuations, there is
     hereby created in such counties a board to be known as the
     "Board of Property Assessment, Appeals and Review," hereinafter
     referred to as the "board."
        Section 1.1.  The following words and phrases when used in
     this act shall have, unless the context clearly indicates
     otherwise, the meanings given to them in this section:
        "Base year" shall mean the year upon which real property
     market values are based for the most recent county-wide revision
     of assessment of real property, or other prior year upon which
     the market value of all real property of the county is based.
     Real property market values shall be equalized within the county
     and any changes by the board shall be expressed in terms of such
     base year values.
        "Common level ratio" shall mean the ratio of assessed value
     to current market value used generally in the county as last
     determined by the State Tax Equalization Board pursuant to the
     act of June 27, 1947 (P.L.1046, No.447), referred to as the
     State Tax Equalization Board Law.
        "Established predetermined ratio" shall mean the ratio of
     assessed value to market value established by the Board of
     Property Assessment, Appeals and Review and uniformly applied in
     determining assessed value in any year. (Def. amended Feb. 24,
     1984, P.L.96, No.18)
        (1.1 added Dec. 13, 1982, P.L.1186, No.272)
        Section 2.  (a)  The Board of Property Assessment, Appeals
     and Review shall consist of seven members, who shall be citizens
     of this Commonwealth and all of whom shall have been residents
     of the county for at least ten years next prior to his
     appointment, and four of whom shall have not less than five
     years' practical experience as a registered real estate broker,
     or real estate appraiser or assessor, one of whom shall have not
     less than five years' practical experience in securities
     transactions, necessitating a knowledge of the values of stocks,
     bonds and other securities, one of whom shall have not less than
     five years' practical experience as a building construction
     engineer or civil engineer or general contractor or assessor,
     and the seventh of whom shall have not less than five years'
     experience as a practicing attorney at law or registered real
     estate broker, or real estate appraiser or assessor. ((a)
     amended May 13, 1955, 1956 P.L.55, No.26)
        (b)  The members of the board shall be appointed by the
     county commissioners. ((b) amended May 23, 1941, P.L.49, No.31)
        (c)  The terms of the members first appointed shall begin on
     the first Monday of January, one thousand nine hundred and
     forty-two. Of such members first appointed three shall be
     appointed for terms of six years, two shall be appointed for
     terms of five years; and the two remaining members shall be
     appointed for terms of four years. Thereafter all appointments
     to fill vacancies, happening by the expiration of a term, shall
     be for terms of six years. All appointments to fill vacancies
     happening in any manner other than by the expiration of a term
     shall be filled for the unexpired term only. In each case,
     whether or not the vacancy happens by the expiration of a term,
     the appointment shall be made subject to the same requirements
     as in the case of the member whose vacancy is to be filled. ((c)
     amended May 23, 1941, P.L.49, No.31)
        (d)  The board shall organize on the first Monday of January,
     one thousand nine hundred and forty-two and on the first Monday
     of January, every third year thereafter, or as soon after such
     days as possible, by electing one of its members as chairman and
     one as vice-chairman, who shall also serve as secretary of the
     board. Both the chairman and the vice-chairman shall be members
     who have not less than five years' practical experience as
     registered real estate brokers or real estate appraisers or
     assessors. Each member of the board shall give bond in such
     amount and with surety or sureties as the county commissioners
     shall approve, conditioned for the faithful performance of his
     duties as a member of the board. The chairman of the board shall
     receive an annual salary of eight thousand dollars ($8,000); the
     vice-chairman shall receive an annual salary of seven thousand
     dollars ($7,000); and each of the other members shall receive an
     annual salary of six thousand dollars ($6,000).
        (e)  All of the members of the board, as well as all persons
     employed by them under the provisions of this act, shall devote
     sufficient time to the duties of their office to fully discharge
     such duties, but may hold other office or employment or may
     engage in any business outside of their position as members or
     employes of the board; except, that no member or employe of the
     board shall engage in the real estate or insurance business or
     hold an office or position of employment in any such business.
     ((e) amended Aug. 17, 1951, 1952 P.L.1297, No.313)
        Section 3.  The board shall appoint to serve at its pleasure,
     such number of subordinate and special assessors and such number
     of clerks, stenographers and other employes as the board shall
     deem requisite. The salaries or compensation of all employes of
     the board shall be fixed by the salary board of the county and
     together with the salaries of the members of the board, shall be
     paid out of the county treasury. When acting on the salary or
     compensation of any employe of the board, the chairman of the
     board shall sit as a member of the salary board. All persons
     appointed by the board shall be qualified according to
     standards, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act,
     adopted by the board and pursuant to such oral and written
     examinations as the board shall prescribe.
        The board shall by majority vote reject any proposed employes
     who in the opinion of the board are not qualified according to
     the standards and provisions of this act, and pursuant to such
     oral or written examinations as the board shall prescribe. The
     board shall by majority vote promote, demote or discharge any
     employes in the department who, in the opinion of the majority
     of the board, are deserving of such promotion, demotion or
     discharge. No member of the Board of Property Assessment,
     Appeals and Review shall be permitted to hold any political
     office.
        Section 4.  The Board of Property Assessment, Appeals and
     Review shall have power and its duty shall be:
        (a)  To make and supervise the making of all assessments and
     valuations of all subjects of taxation in the county as required
     by existing law.
        (a.1)  The board shall assess real property at a value based
     upon an established predetermined ratio which may not exceed one
     hundred percent (100%) of actual value. Such ratio shall be
     established and determined by the Board of Property Assessment,
     Appeals and Review after proper notice has been given. In
     arriving at actual value the county may utilize the current
     market value or it may adopt a base year market value. ((a.1)
     added Dec. 13, 1982, P.L.1186, No.272)
        (a.2)  In arriving at actual value, the price at which any
     property may actually have been sold, either in the base year or
     in the current taxable year, shall be considered but shall not
     be controlling. In arriving at the actual value, all three
     methods, namely, cost (reproduction or replacement, as
     applicable, less depreciation and all forms of obsolescence),
     comparable sales and income approaches, must be considered in
     conjunction with one another. ((a.2) added Dec. 13, 1982,
     P.L.1186, No.272)
        (a.3)  The board shall apply the established predetermined
     ratio to the actual value of all real property to formulate the
     assessment roll. ((a.3) added Dec. 13, 1982, P.L.1186, No.272)
        (b)  To revise and equalize all such assessments and
     valuations.
        (c)  To hear all cases of appeals from assessments, and all
     complaints as to assessments, errors, exonerations and refunds.
        (d)  To pass upon and determine the amount of property of any
     organization or institution which is under the provisions of
     existing law entitled to exemption from taxation.
        (e)  To establish and maintain in its office records of
     cubical contents of buildings, surveys, maps, sales and
     assessments and with the exception of the cubical contents,
     records and sales records, to permit inspection thereof by the
     public at all times during office hours.
        (f)  To perform and exercise all the powers and duties
     heretofore imposed or conferred upon the board for the
     assessment and revision of taxes in counties of the second class
     under the provisions of any existing law not repealed hereby.
        (g)  To perform and exercise such other powers and duties as
     may be conferred or imposed upon it by the provisions of this
     act or any other act of Assembly.
        Section 5.  The board shall establish and maintain in its
     office a register which shall show the present valuation and
     assessment of all property in the county both real and personal,
     and from time to time as the same are made, all additions
     thereto and changes thereof, together with the signature of all
     persons responsible for any changes in the assessment or
     valuation of any such property and the reasons for any such
     changes.
        (5 amended Dec. 13, 1982, P.L.1186, No.272)
        Section 6.  It shall be the duty of the recorder of deeds in
     each county of the second class to report every deed or
     conveyance of land in said county entered in his office for
     recording, which record shall set forth the following
     information, to wit: The recording date of the deed or
     conveyance, the names of the grantor and grantee in the deed,
     the location of the property as to city, borough, ward, town, or
     township mentioned. It shall be the further duty of the recorder
     at intervals to file the aforesaid report in the office of the
     board together with his certificate appended thereto that such
     record is correct.
        Section 7.  The board may divide the county into three
     districts, as nearly equal as possible in subjects of taxation,
     and may provide that triennial assessments shall be made each
     year, but for only one of such three districts during any one
     year. In order to inaugurate such system, a triennial assessment
     may be made for the first district during the year immediately
     following one in which a triennial assessment was made for the
     county as a whole, and a triennial assessment may be made for
     the second district during the second year following one in
     which a triennial assessment was made for the county as a whole.
     Whenever the board has divided the county into districts and
     provided for triennial assessments in each of such triennial
     districts as herein set forth, the board, in making and
     supervising assessments and valuations of property in such
     triennial districts shall make such assessments and valuations
     at a level uniform within such triennial districts but not in
     excess of the actual market value of any property assessed and
     valued and such assessments shall be deemed to be in compliance
     with the requirements of uniformity of taxation on the same
     class of subjects.
        (7 amended Nov. 9, 1965, P.L.668, No.326)
        Section 8.  The proper assessors shall make the assessment
     and valuations of all subjects of taxation within their
     respective districts as provided by existing law, and in so
     doing shall view all taxable property in their district. The
     assessors shall make a personal house-to-house canvass of their
     district in order that such lists of persons may be accurate and
     correct in so far as it is possible to so make them. A list of
     all persons shall not be required to be made yearly but
     triennially in the year immediately preceding the regular
     triennial assessment. Any assessor who shall fail to make such
     assessments and valuations and lists in the manner herein
     provided or who shall knowingly and wilfully make any false
     assessment, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon
     conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not
     exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), and in default of the
     payment of such fine and costs, to undergo an imprisonment not
     exceeding six (6) months.
        (8 amended Dec. 13, 1982, P.L.1186, No.272)
        Section 8.1.  (8.1 repealed Aug. 14, 1963, P.L.911, No.435)
        Section 9.  The assessors shall make such assessments and
     valuations of subjects of taxation each year preceding the
     triennial assessment in such counties, and shall file the same
     with the board on or before the first Monday of September of
     such year. Assessment of occupation after being once fixed shall
     not be changed during the triennium, except by the board upon
     the appearance and affidavit of the taxpayer. The assessor
     shall, in the year immediately preceding the regular triennial
     assessment, make occupational assessments for all of those in
     his territory who have become of age since the creation of the
     last assessment and all of those who have moved into the
     territory since the creation of the last assessment.
        The county and each city, borough, incorporated town,
     township and school district may, by ordinance or resolution,
     exempt any person whose total income from all sources is less
     than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per annum, from its
     occupation tax or any portion thereof. Each taxing authority may
     adopt regulations for the processing of claims for exemption.
     (Par. amended Nov. 26, 1982, P.L.758, No.213)
        (9 amended Dec. 13, 1982, P.L.1186, No.272)
        Section 10.  (a)  The board shall, as provided by this act
     and by the provisions of existing law, examine and revise the
     assessments and valuations, increasing or decreasing the same as
     in their judgment may seem proper, and shall add thereto such
     property or subjects of taxation as may have been omitted.
        (b)  After such revision, the board shall, by rule, fix
     convenient times for the hearing of appeals from said
     assessments and valuations.
        (c)  In any appeal of an assessment the board shall make the
     following determinations:
        (1)  The current market value for the tax year in question.
        (2)  The common level ratio.
        (3)  The fair market value, as determined in accordance with
     section 402 of the act of May 22, 1933 (P.L.853, No.155), known
     as "The General County Assessment Law."
        (d)  The board, after determining the current market value of
     the property for the tax year in question, shall then apply the
     established predetermined ratio to such value unless the common
     level ratio varies by more than fifteen percent (15%) from the
     established predetermined ratio, in which case the board shall
     apply the common level ratio to the current market value of the
     property for the tax year in question. For the initial year of
     the implementation of county-wide reassessment, appeals shall be
     solely on the basis of fair market value.
        (e)  Nothing herein shall prevent any appellant from
     appealing any base year valuation without reference to ratio.
        (f)  Except as provided for in subsection (g), the valuations
     determined in accordance with this section shall stand as the
     valuations for the assessments of all county and institution
     district taxes and for such other political subdivisions as levy
     their taxes on county assessments and valuations in the county
     until the next triennial assessment.
        (g)  Persons who have suffered catastrophic losses to their
     property shall have the right to appeal before the board, within
     the remainder of the county fiscal year in which the
     catastrophic loss occurred, or within six (6) months of the date
     on which the catastrophic loss occurred, whichever time period
     is longer. The duty of the board shall be to reassess the value
     of the property in the following manner: the value of the
     property before the catastrophic loss based on the percentage of
     the taxable year for which the property stood at its former
     value, added to the value of the property after the catastrophic
     loss, based on the percentage of the taxable year for which the
     property stood at its reduced value. Any property improvements
     made subsequent to the catastrophic loss in the same tax year
     shall not be included in the reassessment as herein described
     for that tax year. Any adjustment in an assessment pursuant to
     this subsection (1) shall be reflected by the appropriate taxing
     authorities in the form of a credit for the next succeeding tax
     year; or (2) upon application by the property owner to the
     appropriate taxing authorities, shall result in a refund being
     paid to the property owner at the time of issuance of the tax
     notice for the next succeeding tax year by the respective taxing
     authorities. For purposes of this subsection, the phrase
     "catastrophic loss" shall mean any loss due to mine subsidence,
     fire, flood or other natural disaster which affects the physical
     state of the real property and which exceeds fifty percent (50%)
     of the market value of the real property prior to the loss.
        (10 amended Dec. 21, 1988, P.L.1437, No.175)
        Section 10.1.  When an appeal is taken by a municipality or
     school district of an assessment dealing with commercial
     property, industrial property, multiple residential property
     over twenty units or mobile home parks value made by the board
     and a property appraisal is initiated after consultation between
     representatives of the affected taxing jurisdictions involved,
     the cost for the independent appraisal to be used by the board
     in the appeal shall be paid in the following manner: the cost
     shall be shared among the affected county, the affected
     municipality or municipalities and the affected school district
     or school districts in the same proportion the millage rate of
     each entity is to the total millage of such entities.
        (10.1 added Mar. 26, 1992, P.L.22, No.8)
        Section 11.  When the triennial assessments shall be fixed,
     either for the whole county or in districts thereof, or when the
     established predetermined ratio has been changed within the
     county, notice of that fact shall be given, by publication in at
     least two newspapers of general circulation in the county, of
     the time when appeals will be heard and a copy of the
     assessments made in boroughs and townships shall be placed in
     some public place in each such borough or township by the
     assessor. The board shall adopt rules and regulations governing
     the right to and the holding of appeals, and the practice and
     procedure thereat. Such rules and regulations shall be
     published, together with the notices of triennial assessments as
     above provided.
        The board shall provide simple appeal forms which shall
     contain simple questions clearly expressed, which will require
     answers having a direct bearing on the true value of the
     property as of the period for which such assessment was made. No
     other type of questions shall be contained thereon.
        In the year one thousand nine hundred forty-three, the board
     shall permit appeals to be taken from assessments up to and
     including June first, and no later, including all those where
     the 1943 taxes have been paid in whole or in part. In subsequent
     years, no appeals may be taken from assessments of properties
     after the last day of February of the year in which the
     assessment first becomes effective. All appeals filed with the
     board prior to this amendment shall be valid, if otherwise in
     accordance with existing law. At all appeal hearings, the
     property owner or his agent appearing for him shall have the
     right to be represented by counsel and to be accompanied by
     witnesses or assistants.
        If a taxpayer has filed an appeal from an assessment, so long
     as the appeal is pending before the board or before a court on
     appeal from the determination of the board, as provided by
     statute, the appeal will also be taken as an appeal by the
     taxpayer on the subject property for any valuation for any
     triennial or intertriennial assessment subsequent to the filing
     of such appeal with the board and prior to the determination of
     the appeal by the board or the court. The board shall hold its
     hearings and make its final determination of the subsequent
     years in question in the same manner as for the year or years
     for which the original appeal was filed. This provision shall be
     applicable to all pending appeals as well as future appeals.
        After the hearing of appeals, the board shall take such
     action in regard thereto as may be right and proper, and shall,
     within ten (10) days thereafter, complete such action and make
     their determinations, and immediately give due notice to the
     appellant by registered mail.
        (11 amended Dec. 21, 1988, P.L.1437, No.175)

        Compiler's Note:  Section 2 of Act 16 of 2001 provided that
            section 11 is repealed insofar as it is inconsistent with
            section 1 of Act 16.
        Section 12.  (12 repealed Dec. 20, 1982, P.L.1409, No.326)
        Section 13.  The proper assessors shall, between the
     triennial assessments, revise any assessment or valuation
     according to right and equity by correcting errors and by adding
     thereto any property, improvements or subjects of taxation which
     may have been omitted or any new property, improvements or
     subjects of taxation which may have come into being since the
     last triennial assessment. Any property, improvements or
     subjects of taxation which may have been omitted shall be
     assessed and made subject to taxation for the period during
     which said property, improvements or subjects of taxation shall
     have been omitted but in no event to exceed the period of five
     calendar years preceding the year in which the property,
     improvements or subjects of taxation omitted is first added to
     the assessment roll. Any such assessments as are made pursuant
     to the provisions of this paragraph shall be subject to appeal
     in the same manner as other assessments made pursuant to this
     act. Taxes levied on any such assessment shall not be made
     subject to the payment of any interest and penalties otherwise
     provided by law, except as the same are computed from the date
     of assessment made pursuant to this section. No bona fide
     purchaser of any property or subject of taxation without
     knowledge that the property or subject of taxation was omitted
     from assessment for purposes of taxation shall be subject to any
     taxation based upon the additional assessment made pursuant to
     this section.
        They shall also add thereto the names of any persons who may
     have moved into such district and strike therefrom the names of
     any persons who have removed from such districts since the last
     triennial assessment.
        The proper assessors shall also revise assessments and
     valuations between the triennial assessments by increasing or
     decreasing the same where the value of the property or subjects
     of taxation assessed or valued has changed by reason of any
     change of conditions thereon or adjacent thereto or in the
     vicinity thereof, or for the reason that the property assessed
     or valued has been subdivided or laid out into a plan of lots or
     other subdivisions, or for the reason that improvements have
     been placed thereon or added thereto, or for the reason that any
     public or other improvement has been made adjacent thereto or in
     the vicinity thereof, or for the reason that the assessor and
     the majority of the board decides that the assessor erred in the
     value which he placed on the property or subjects of taxation
     when making the triennial assessment, or where, for any other
     reason whatsoever, the value of the property has changed and it
     seems to the board necessary and equitable to make a change in
     the valuation thereof. The assessors shall also, between the
     triennial assessments in all cases where it is apparent that any
     assessment is not in accord with the generality or uniform
     standard of assessments, revise and correct the same by
     increasing or decreasing the same where the value of the
     property or subjects of taxation assessed do not conform to the
     generality or uniform standard of assessments.
        No land assessed as acreage or unimproved property, which is
     subsequently laid out in residential lots and the plan of such
     lots is recorded, shall be assessed in excess of the total
     assessment of the land as acreage or unimproved property until
     such time as the lots are actually improved with permanent
     construction of any new building and either sold to a bona fide
     purchaser or occupied for residential purposes. Each such lot as
     sold or occupied shall be subject to reassessment beginning with
     the date of such sale or occupancy, and new construction thereon
     shall be subject to reassessment as provided above. When a
     department or agency of the Commonwealth or a municipality has
     ordered a sewer connection ban because of a lack of adequate
     sewage treatment facilities, the real estate affected by the
     order shall be reassessed for the duration of the order. The
     reassessment shall be based on the value of the best use of the
     land during the period of the reassessment. New single and
     multiple dwellings constructed for residential purposes and
     improvements to existing unoccupied dwellings or improvements to
     existing structures for purposes of conversion to dwellings,
     shall not be valued or assessed for purposes of real property
     taxes until (1) occupied, (2) conveyed to a bona fide purchaser,
     or (3) thirty months from the first day of the month after which
     the building permit was issued or, if no building permit or
     other notification of improvement was required, then from the
     date construction commenced. The assessment of any multiple
     dwelling because of occupancy shall be upon such proportion
     which the value of the occupied portion bears to the value of
     the entire multiple dwelling. As used in this paragraph, the
     word "dwellings" means buildings or portions thereof intended
     for permanent use as homes or residences and the phrase
     "affected by the order" shall be defined as the application for
     a building permit and the denial to the applicant of permission
     to proceed with the building or construction because of a sewer
     ban order.
        All assessments required to be made by the proper assessors
     in the year between the triennial assessment shall be returned
     to the board not later than the first Monday of September of the
     year preceding the one for which it is made.
        (13 amended Dec. 21, 1988, P.L.1437, No.175)
        Compiler's Note:  Section 2 of Act 105 of 1977, which amended
            the fourth paragraph of section 13, provided that Act 105
            shall apply to sewer connection bans in effect on and
            after the effective date of Act 105. The two-year period
            of reassessment shall begin on the effective date of Act
            105 for sewer connection bans imposed on or before the
            effective date of Act 105.
        Section 13.1.  Whenever, through mathematical or clerical
     error, an assessment is made more than it should have been and
     taxes are paid on such incorrect assessment, the Board of
     Property Assessment, Appeals and Review, upon discovery of such
     error and correction of the assessment, shall so inform the
     appropriate taxing district or districts, which shall make a
     refund to the taxpayer or taxpayers for the period of the error
     or six years, whichever is less, from the date of application
     for refund or discovery of such error by the board. For the
     purposes of this section, in counties of the second class,
     "mathematical or clerical error" shall mean the difference
     between the assessment as certified for a given tax year by the
     Board of Property Assessment, Appeals and Review and the
     assessment upon which taxes are billed and paid. Reassessment,
     revision of assessment or certification of assessment with or
     without application by the owner as a decision of judgment based
     upon the method of assessment by the board shall not constitute
     an error under this section.
        (13.1 added Dec. 21, 1988, P.L.1437, No.175)
        Section 14.  At any time before such date, any taxable person
     may apply to the board for the reassessment of any subject of
     taxation which he considers incorrectly assessed or as to which
     he considers himself entitled to a change in valuation or to
     have mechanical or transcribing errors corrected.
        Section 15.  At least thirty (30) days' written notice shall
     be given to any taxable person whose assessment shall be changed
     at any triennial assessment, or between triennial assessments,
     in a manner which would mean an increase in the taxes on such
     real estate if the same tax rate should prevail setting forth
     any change which has been made and the time and place set for
     hearing objections thereto. At least thirty (30) days' written
     notice shall also be given to any taxable person if the
     established predetermined ratio is changed within the county.
        Any required notice shall be served by the board or any
     member thereof or by any assessor or by any other person
     authorized so to do by the board upon said taxable person or may
     be mailed to him or her at his or her last known address by
     first class mail.
        When no service is made upon the taxable person by an
     authorized person or by first class mail, said notice shall be
     deemed to have been properly served if tacked or conspicuously
     posted upon the property assessed.
        No defect in service of any such notice of an assessment
     change shall be sufficient ground for setting aside any
     assessment so made, but upon proof thereof being made, the
     taxable person shall have the right to a rehearing before the
     board relative to said assessment and to appeal therefrom to the
     court of common pleas as hereinafter provided.
        (15 amended Feb. 24, 1984, P.L.96, No.18)
        Section 16.  After the hearing of any objections to any
     change made or to the failure to make any change to which any
     taxable person considers himself entitled, and the making of any
     changes that may be deemed proper, the valuation as so
     ascertained shall, unless changed in the manner herein provided
     or as provided by existing law, stand as the valuation for the
     assessments for county and institution district taxes and for
     such other political subdivisions as levy their taxes on county
     assessments and valuations, in such county, until the next
     triennial assessment: Provided, That all taxes levied for the
     year one thousand nine hundred and forty-two, or any fiscal year
     commencing during the year one thousand nine hundred and forty-
     two, shall be levied and assessed on assessments and valuations
     made as heretofore provided by law.
        Section 17.  (a)  No appeal taken from any assessments made
     under this act shall affect the validity of any taxes assessed,
     nor shall it prevent the collection of the taxes based upon the
     assessment if such assessment shall thereafter be reduced, an
     exoneration shall be granted for the proper amount to equalize
     such reduction, if the taxes based upon such assessment have not
     been paid, and if the taxes based upon such assessment have been
     paid the excess taxes collected shall be refunded to the person
     having made such payment. Such refunds except as provided in
     subsection (b) shall be made within thirty (30) days after the
     tax levying authorities have been notified by mail by the board
     of the reduction made in the assessment by the board or by the
     court and such refunds shall include interest at the legal rate
     commencing one (1) year after the date of the receipt by the
     tax-levying authorities of the mailed reduction notice from the
     board, but in no event shall said statutory interest begin to
     accrue prior to June 22, 1970. No such appeal shall operate to
     relieve the appellant from liability for accrued interest and
     penalties on any unpaid taxes based upon the assessment as
     finally established.
        (b)  Refunds of county taxes of less than one hundred dollars
     ($100) may at the option of tax-levying authorities, be made
     without the necessity of any formal action by the board of
     county commissioners on individual refunds.
        (17 amended Dec. 10, 1980, P.L.1158, No.210)
        Section 17.1.  On or before the fifteenth day of January, the
     Board of Property Assessment, Appeals and Review shall certify
     to the clerk or secretary of each political subdivision coming
     within the scope of this act, within the county, the total value
     of real property appearing in the assessment roll and taxable by
     the respective political subdivisions. The time limit within
     which the political subdivision is entitled to appeal from the
     actions of the board shall commence to run on the day such
     certification is mailed or otherwise delivered. Cities of the
     second class may submit appeals after November 15, as long as
     there is compliance with section 11 of this act.
        (17.1 amended Dec. 21, 1988, P.L.1437, No.175)
        Section 18.  Any taxpayer may, at any time during office
     hours, have access to the records of taxable property and be
     permitted to copy therefrom a list of taxable property.
        Section 19.  On the first Monday of January, one thousand
     nine hundred and forty-two, the terms of all members of the
     board for the assessment and revision of taxes and of all
     subordinate assessors and clerks employed by the board in
     counties of the second class shall cease and terminate, and the
     board for the assessment and revision of taxes as now
     constituted in counties of the second class is hereby abolished.
     On said date all books, records, maps, plans, equipment and
     supplies in the possession  of the board for the assessment and
     revision of taxes shall be turned over and delivered to the
     Board of Property Assessment, appeals and review created by this
     act.
        Section 19.1.  Any city in any county wherein a board is
     created under this act may become subject to the provisions of
     this act, and the mayor and council of any such city may effect
     the same by an ordinance duly passed. A copy of such ordinance
     approved by the mayor and duly certified, accompanied by a
     statement of the vote thereon, with the names of the members of
     council voting for and against such ordinance, shall be
     forwarded to and filed in the office of the Secretary of the
     Commonwealth, and when so filed the Governor shall under the
     great seal of the Commonwealth, certify the acceptance of the
     provisions of this act, which certificate shall be recorded
     among the minutes of the council and in the office for the
     recording of deeds in the proper county.
        From the date of the completion of such acceptance the
     objects, property and persons subject to and exempt from
     taxation in such city for city and school purposes shall be
     designated by, and the assessment and valuation thereof for such
     city and school purposes shall be done only in accordance with
     the provisions of this act and by the officers designated in
     this act.
        Whenever any city accepts the provisions of this act all the
     provisions thereof shall apply to such city and any act of
     Assembly in force in such city, in so far as it is inconsistent
     with the provisions of this act, shall be annulled.
        (19.1 added June 20, 1947, P.L.664, No.287)
        Section 20.  Except where inconsistent therewith, this act
     does not repeal any of the provisions of the act, approved the
     twenty-second day of May, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-
     three (Pamphlet Laws, eight hundred fifty-three), entitled "An
     act relating to taxation; designating the subjects, property and
     persons subject to and exempt from taxation for all local
     purposes; providing for and regulating the assessment and
     valuation of persons, property and subjects of taxation for
     county purposes, and for the use of those municipal and quasi-
     municipal corporations which levy their taxes on county
     assessments and valuations; amending, revising and consolidating
     the law relating thereto; and repealing existing laws," or its
     amendments.
        Section 21.  The act, approved the twenty-second day of July,
     one thousand nine hundred and nineteen (Pamphlet Laws, one
     thousand ninety-three), entitled "An act creating, in counties
     having a population of from eight hundred thousand to one
     million five hundred thousand, a board for the assessment and
     revision of taxes; providing for the appointment of the members
     of such board by the county commissioners; fixing their
     salaries, payable by the county; defining the powers and duties
     of such board, and regulating the assessment of property and
     occupations for State and county purposes; authorizing the
     appointment of subordinate assessors and clerks, defining their
     duties and providing for their compensation, payable by such
     counties; imposing a penalty on subordinate assessors for
     failure to comply with certain provisions of this act, and
     abolishing the office of ward, borough, and township assessor,
     in so far as respects the assessment of property and occupations
     for State and county purposes," and its amendments, are hereby
     repealed.
        All other acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are
     hereby repealed.