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A mix of clouds and sun. High around 85F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph..
Mostly cloudy skies early with scattered thunderstorms developing late. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
CLARION – Clarion County’s first reassessment in nearly 50 years is officially underway.
According to Sarah Garner, project manager for Vision Government Solutions Inc., the Massachusetts-based firm that was hired to complete the full-county reassessment, data collectors have been visiting residential properties in Clarion Borough, with plans to move into Clarion Township in the coming weeks.
“We are just doing residential right now,” Garner told Clarion County Commissioners at their Aug. 11 work session, noting that crews have visited 626 residences out of a total 18,000 properties in the borough. Once residential data is gathered she said, collectors will return to complete commercial properties. “We want to get our collectors more time and experience before they start working on commercial collection.”
During a property visit, Garner explained, data collectors will complete a physical inspection of the exterior of the residence.
“Their job is to list and measure what’s on the property,” she said, noting that collectors will photograph the front and back of the property and take measurements of the exterior walls. They will also report characteristics such as the type of siding on a property, and the roof line and type of cover, as well as photograph and annotate any “out building,” including swimming pools, on the property.
“They aren’t valuing anything on the property,” Garner clarified. “They are just collecting information and data.”
Even as they finish up work in the borough and move into Clarion Township, Garner said some properties in the borough will be revisited for “spot checks.”
“It would not be alarming to see sometime coming back to do a revisit on a property,” she said. “It’s because we’re doing quality control and double checking the work of the field data collectors.”
Garner pointed out that Clarion County field data collectors will be seen wearing bight yellow vests containing the words “Vision Reassessment” and will have placards on their vehicles with the same identifying moniker.
“The biggest thing is that they have county IDs,” she said, adding that data collectors should be able to identify themselves.
Garner reiterated that all residential inspections are “exterior only,” and a field data collector should never ask a homeowner for entry into the residence.
“If anything seems amiss or out of place while they [data collectors] are there, we encourage homeowners to contact us immediately,” she said, adding that as of last Thursday’s work session, she had four data collectors on staff, with three more set to start this week.
Garner said that property owners don’t have to be on site at the time of the visit, and data collectors have been leaving brochures at residences that they visit, so residents know they were there. In the event that a property is gated or inaccessible at the time of a visit, follow-up letters seeking permission to enter or to set up another time for a visit will be sent to property owners.
“For the most part, the residents have been very cooperative,” she said of property visits, noting that data collectors will leave the premises if asked by a property owner.
She cautioned, however, that the necessary data will still be acquired on those properties using other resources and tools, which may not be as accurate.
“If we have to judge how long a wall is, we’re going to err to the upper side if we aren’t physically able to measure that property,” Garner said. “We do that in the interest of being fair to everyone.”
Regardless of the means in which the data on a property is collected, Garner said property owners will have “every opportunity” to provide feedback on the acquired information regarding their property.
In fact, Garner told the commissioners that a property assessment website is being created as an additional resource for residents to double check that the information is correct with regard to their properties.
“It won’t have values or anything of that nature, but it will say what we measured your house at, [include] the sketch, how many bedrooms, how many bathrooms — whatever the information recorded on the property was, and allow the property owners to provide feedback to us early on,” she explained.
The website is expected to be deployed sometime between late September and early October.
Garner said she anticipates the data collection phase of the reassessment to continue through August 2023, at which time Vision Government Solutions will begin the valuation process, which will be completed by Certified Pennsylvania Evaluators (CPEs), as per state law.
Properties will be valued at a fair market value as of Jan. 1, 2024, with the new countywide tax base being used to levy property taxes effective Jan. 1, 2025.
This complete county-wide reassessment marks Clarion County’s first reassessment since 1975.
“There’s concern at first, of course, [but] things have been going fairly well,” Garner concluded of the early data collecting process. “It seems to be easier when we’re in an area and [property owners] start realizing what we’re out here doing.”
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