News Nearby: Many Still Have Assessment Questions

 have many homeowners seeking information they need to challenge those numbers.

County and local officials are organizing some informational meetings to help owners understand the process and how to appeal what they believe are incorrect assessments.

Still,  of how the county came to assign an accurate assessment to each property and what people should do to fight them.

A few people expressed anger Wednesday night while meeting at the  to learn more about the process and how to appeal the assessment. Many of the 100 others who attended just didn’t understand the process and felt it was unfair, said Joe Hirsch, a veteran real estate agent with Keller-Williams who helped to organize the meeting.

“The system is terribly broken and my hope was people coming out of that meeting would come to that conclusion,” Hirsch said. “This isn’t fair and there’s no way to make it fair.”

The Scott Township resident thinks the only way to challenge the county is  to prove the value of a property. Attorneys who also attended the meeting offered their services to help put property owners in the best position possible.

“You better have strong evidence and you better bring an appraisal,” Hirsch said of what many have told him of the appeals process.

But Allegheny County Councilman Mike Finnerty, who also attended last week’s meeting, wondered if that would work because he said the entire process was so flawed. He thinks residents who bring comparable properties that show severe discrepancies will also have a strong case.

Finnerty strongly suggested that South Hills property owners  because he’s not sure if the informal hearing will make a difference.

“I don’t really know what good an informal hearing will do,” Finnerty said. “It’s not going to change anything, but it might give you some insight on how (the process) is done, which wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

Finnerty said he planned to hold another informational session at the after St. Patrick’s Day. The date and time will be scheduled soon.

Meanwhile, county Councilman Vince Gastgeb, who represents other communities in the South Hills, is holding a similar town hall meeting this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Bethel Park High School auditorium. The school is located at 309 Church Road in Bethel Park.

In addition, the Burns White law firm is holding a free, informational event for southern suburban residents from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Green Tree. Presented by Jennifer Mislanovich, an attorney who has represented commercial and residential property owners at all levels of Allegheny County assessment hearings, the seminar will cover things such as how the appeals process works, who can appeal, and how some aggressive school districts might handle the appeals. There will be a question and answer period at the end of the seminar.

This article originally appeared on Chartiers Valley Patch.