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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. John Yudichak |
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House committee OKs Yudichak's property assessment moratorium bill
HARRISBURG, June 30 – State Rep. John Yudichak's bill (H.B. 1661) calling for a moratorium on court-ordered, countywide property reassessments while the General Assembly conducts a study of the state's property tax reassessment system was voted out of the House Urban Affairs Committee today.
"Pennsylvanian is the only state that lacks fairness, uniformity and strong taxpayer protections in its current property tax reassessment system," said Yudichak, D-Luzerne. "The House recently adopted House Resolution 334, which I co-sponsored, calling for a comprehensive study of our current system to develop a system that protects taxpayers and preserves our property tax relief programs.
"The legislation approved in committee today would make sure that more homeowners in Pennsylvania are not impacted by Pennsylvania's unfair county reassessment system while we study and implement ways to make it better," he said.
House Resolution 334, sponsored by state Rep. David Levdansky, D-Allegheny/Washington, contains the same language found in Yudichak's H.R. 272. The measure commissions a study that will compare Pennsylvania's current system of property reassessment with those in other states, with a particular emphasis on Maryland and California. The study will make recommendations to the General Assembly and will be done by the nonpartisan Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, in conjunction with the Local Government Commission and State Tax Equalization Board.
Under H.B. 1661, a moratorium on countywide property tax reassessments would be put in effect while that study takes place, expiring on June 30, 2011. The bill, which has bipartisan support, now moves to the full House for consideration.
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