New muni millage rates

[squarian]

Wilkinsburg Borough Council unanimously voted to keep its millage exactly the same as the pre-reassessment rate, at 14 mils, on the grounds that with so many appeals still pending the borough could not accurately calculate the "correct" millage rate.

Wilkinsburg School District apparently intends to follow the borough's lead, though it is unclear to me whether the school board has actually voted on the question, or will at some later date address it. School district bills will, of course, be issued in the next few months, and residents will learn then whether they're expected to pay the old rate of 36.67 mils on the new assessment.

Presumably, once the money is collected, appeals concluded for this year, and firm tax-base numbers are available, both the borough and school district will revise their millage rates to comply with the anti-windfall laws as they apply respectively to municipalities and school districts. Presumably, if the final numbers indicate that too much money was collected, rebates will be issued.

Whether or to what extent this places a strain on the borough and SD's administrative resources, is impossible to say. Given past performance, it's easy enough to imagine that the result will be chaotic.

For now, though, Wilkinsburg property owners are being taxed at the old rates on reassessment values. Which is kind of ironic, since this long-drawn-out reassessment tangle began with some Wilkinsburg residents (among other plaintiffs) suing on the grounds that they were being unfairly and incorrectly over-taxed: for now at least, they are certainly being over-taxed.

[EggMaker]

As squarian said -- I just today heard a rumor that some school districts quietly obtained permission (from whom, I have no idea) to keep millage rates for 2013 unchanged, regardless of aggregate increases in property value, on the grounds that a relatively high number of properties are still in the appeals/BOV process. This source said there would be no rebates issued, and no adjustment for tax year 2014.

[sealie]

Huh. I wonder if that means WSD is actually going to balance their books this year, having the higher assessments with the same millage and all that.