Reassessment Project Underway in Monroe County
STROUD TOWNSHIP -- If you live in Monroe County you may have noticed white marked vans driving around your neighborhood.
Those vans are taking pictures of houses and businesses in Monroe County as part of a countywide property tax reassessment project.
The last time a reassessment took place there was nearly 30 years ago.
Once the assessment is over residents could see a change in how much they pay in taxes.
The white vans are making their way around Monroe County. Newswatch 16 found one van driving up and down streets in Stroud Township.
"We ride around in the white vans and take pictures of every structure in the county," explained field operator Fortunato Enonia. "We save it and send it to our company to do quality control and then they send it back to the county."
The people in the vans are from Tyler Technologies. The company, based in Ohio, was hired to take pictures of properties throughout Monroe County.
With more than 75,000 properties on the list, they have a ways to go.
Monroe county chief tax assessor Cindy Treible calls reassessment a task that is long overdue.
"This is the first time we ever had this done in Monroe County and it will help with the reassessment, but it also helps when you have a disaster in your area because you know what was there. Currently, we only have sketches; we do not have photos."
The van won't be parked outside your house long. In fact, the pictures only take a couple seconds but if residents feel concerned, there is something they can do.
"Every time someone asks a question, we give them that paper and it explains what we are doing and there is a phone number there they can call the county and ask more questions if they want to," said Enonia.
the Reassessment is an attempt to give property owners an even playing field when it comes to property taxes.
Stroud Township resident Mitch Shuler hopes the reassessment lowers his.
"Money is hard to come by for some people, well, I guess for everyone, and lowering taxes will help them out," he said.
The picture portion of the project will continue well into the fall.
The next step -- examining the pictures -- will begin next year.
It will take until 2019 for the new assessed property values to take effect.
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Story and Video from WNEP.com
