Some of the burden from Allegheny County's nearly $250 million property tax will move from the poorest areas to faster-growing and richer communities, under 2002 preliminary property assessments released Wednesday. Although the new values won't be in property owners' hands until the middle of this month, municipal totals show the new assessments -- done under a revamped computer model -- will benefit primarily those in the Mon and Allegheny River valleys. The areas, according to critics of last year's reassessment, had been systematically overassessed. Overall, the total assessed value in the county grew by nearly 11 percent, from about $57 billion to $63.3 billion - about three times what the county had been expecting. The values include all residential and commercial property. "We are very confident in these values," county General Services Director Norm Mekkelsen said. "They're darned good." This year, any municipality where assessments grow by more than 11 percent will pay a proportionally greater share of the $241 million 2002 property tax; therefore, residents could get higher tax bills in February. Any municipality where assessments grow less than the 11 percent average will pay a lesser share and will receive smaller bills. Residents whose homes were assessed below their actual worth last year can expect to see higher assessments this time around, county Manager Bob Webb said. "The greatest increased percentages are in the wealthiest communities," he said. For example, total values went up 35 percent in Edgeworth, 27 percent in Bell Acres, 22 percent in Robinson Township, 21 percent in Sewickley, and 17 percent in both Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon. Assessments dropped in Mon Valley communities, such as Rankin, 28 percent; Lincoln, 16 percent; Clairton, 15 percent; and Duquesne, 12 percent. Other areas where assessments shrank compared to the rest of the county included Brackenridge, Braddock, East Deer, McKeesport and Tarentum. In Pittsburgh, total values grew by nearly 10 percent, which means that, overall, the amount of county property taxes paid by city residents will decrease only slightly; however, changes in assessed value vary widely across the city. For example, the value of some of the city's prime real estate in the Golden Triangle was below the average, including the 1st Ward, down 1 percent, and the 2nd Ward, up 5 percent. Values in the 14th Ward went up 20 percent and in the 7th Ward by 13 percent. Clairton Councilman Domenic Virgona Sr. said there aren't any surprises with the municipality's 15 percent drop in assessment. Taxable property in 2001 was valued at $147 million, compared to $125 million this year. "We were planning for it to happen," Virgona said. "We just passed our budget. It seems like we will be OK." Duquesne Councilman George Matta had a simple reason for the 12 percent decrease in property assessments, from $116 million to $102 million -- last year's assessments were too high. "When the numbers started coming in (last year), we knew they were too high. ... When they say the town is worth eight or 10 times greater (in value), we knew it wasn't. We knew the taxes wouldn't allow for it," he said. "Hopefully, we won't run out of money." The new assessments are based on a computerized assessment formula that includes properties sold as recently as June. The formula also includes more than 70 different neighborhood types, compared to a dozen used in the 2001 reassessment by Sabre Systems & Service Inc., and counts property sales for as little as $1,000, compared to a $10,000 minimum recognized by Sabre. The new values were presented to the county Property Assessments Oversight Board, which will consider certifying them at its meeting Tuesday. Board members George Whitmer, a senior vice president with PNC Bank, and Robert C. Stephenson, president of Strategic Investment Fund Inc., both said they will rely on the county's assessment consultant, East Liberty-based Consad, to vouch for the accuracy of the computer model used to create the new assessments. "We don't have the budget to retain an outside firm to review these," Whitmer said. Consad is scheduled to deliver its final report Monday on the county's 2002 assessment procedure to Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr., who had ordered the countywide reassessment. In a preliminary report released last week, Consad found preliminary assessments appear to be improved, but there still are problems with overassessments in some of the county's poorest areas. Webb said a county analysis of the municipal figures shows the results meet industry standards by the International Association of Assessing Officers and the county's own assessment ordinance adopted in the summer. "The county is continuing to move toward fair-market values," he said.

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