Monroe County Real Estate Tax Re-Assessment Information

The new property reassessment valuations are in the mail, sent out July 1.

I have spoken to a number of Mount Pocono residents expressing their concern and fears in response to the notices.

I am going to try to clear up some of the most common concerns expressed to me. I will also talk about the actions I will take as your Borough Council representative.

This Re-Assessment was done by Monroe County, not by Mount Pocono

First, it is important to understand this is a county issue. The Borough of Mount Pocono, and the Borough Council Members, played no part in the reassessment. However, we have been working to help residents understand the impact. And, it will impact your Borough real estate taxes because our millage is based on the County assessment.

Earlier this year, the Council President invited John Christy to a Council meeting to address resident concerns. She has just announced that Mr. Christy will be at the next regular Borough Council meeting on August 5, where he will again address resident concerns.

Background

This reassessment was conducted by Monroe County with the intention of restoring equity to property assessments. The last county-wide assessment was done in 1989. The reassessment is intended to ensure each property is taxed based on a current valuation, thereby establishing a more fair and equitable form of taxation.

What you assessment means

Your July 1 notice contained two assessments - 2019 and 2020. The 2019 assessment is the current assessed value -- likely far below the actual market value of your home. To arrive at your current tax obligation, you will apply the millage rates to the total 2019 assessment.The current millage rates are as follows:

PMSD - 135.29 Mount Pocono Borough - 30 Monroe County - 21.25 Fire & Library 2.5 TOTAL - 189.04

To determine this year’s tax liability multiply your 2019 assessment by the total mils (189.04 mils = 0.18904 of your assessed value).The 2019 assessment reflect only a portion of your property value -- on average less than 1/6th of the market value of the properties in the County.The 2020 assessment is intended to reflect the actual current market value of your home. On average, that would be a little under 6x the 2019 assessment. (You multiple could be less than that.)

THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOUR REAL ESTATE TAXES ARE GOING UP 6 X IN 2020!!!!

We do not know the mils for 202o yet

BUT -- we do know that Mount Pocono residents will NOT be paying the same millage on the 2020 assessed value that they are paying on the 2019 value!

Later this year, the County will send Mount Pocono, and all of the other taxing jurisdictions -- the school districts included -- a report telling them the total assessed value of the tax parcels in their districts.

They are then required to adjust their 2020 millage rates. Under the law, the amount of real estate taxes collected after a re-assessment can not substantially increase as a result of the re-assessment (the law caps any increase at 10%).Some residents will pay more, some will pay less, some will remain about the same. Keep in mind the 10% cap is an AVERAGE across the entire Borough (or School District & County). Some people may have a greater increase than that, and some may have a decrease of more than that.

But. overall, it is fair to expect not more than a ten percent increase, and to hope for less.

I Will Support ONLY a Revenue-Neutral adjustment of Mount Pocono’s 2020 millage

As a member of Borough Council, I will not vote in favor of a 2020 budget which does not include a revenue-neutral adjustment of the millage.

What does that mean?

It means that the Borough Council will need to adjust our 2020 millage downwards so that the average Borough Property owner’s tax liability to the Borough in 2020 is not substantially greater than it was in 2019 due to the reassessment.

If the proposed millage rate is not consistent with that principle, then I will vote against it and urge the other members of Council to do likewise.

I hope this helps a little. Mount Pocono property owners with additional questions are welcome to contact me at tom@mountpocono-pa.com or 570-762-2163.

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