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Lawsuit stalls tax-notice mailing
Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. told the county Monday it would make little sense to mail valuation notices to owners of about 550,000 properties when the lawsuit could result in the Onorato's assessment plan being struck down.
Onorato agreed to delay mailing assessment notices shortly after Wettick spoke at a lawsuit status conference. "I would agree that the worst thing we could do is send them out early and have to send them again if the numbers change," he said.
County officials said it could cost up to $250,000 to mail the notices.
Onorato said the appeals period for 2006 valuations, set to expire May 31, will be extended.
Wettick set a May 10 date for hearing arguments on the lawsuit filed by the Sto-Rox School District and Franklin Park property owner James C. Clifton. Lawyers said a decision on whether Onorato's cap plan is legal probably will take at least several days after Wettick hears arguments.
The future of the 2006 reassessment has been in doubt since February when Onorato saw that the average county property value increased by about 19 percent in new figures calculated by assessors.
Onorato suspended a Feb. 15 deadline for mailing the 2006 values and developed his alternative plan to cap increases.
Under the plan, property values would be allowed to fall by an unlimited amount, remain steady, or rise by up to 4 percent.
Values calculated under Onorato's cap plan were supposed to be mailed March 31.
Sto-Rox and Clifton sued the county over the new plan April 18, arguing it illegally establishes separate classes of taxpayers.
Wettick did not address the legal merits of the lawsuit yesterday. He asked Sto-Rox lawyer Ira Weiss to submit a brief by Friday and gave County Solicitor Michael Wojcik until May 5 to file a response.
Onorato says school districts and municipal governments would take advantage of higher assessments to collect more tax revenue.
Weiss points out that the law requires schools and municipalities to cut tax rates after a reassessment so they gain at most 5 percent in new revenue. He says Onorato's plan shifts the tax burden from the owners of properties that are rising most quickly in value to those who own property with falling or flat values.
Lawyer John Kamin told Wettick yesterday that several municipalities he represents might join the lawsuit. He declined to name them.
Weiss predicted a speedy outcome because most of the issues in the lawsuit have been argued before.
"This is not the kind of case that ought to linger very long," he said.
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