Bedford taxes could double

BEDFORD - Property taxes could double, the Bedford County Taxpayers' Association told an audience of about 100 at an informational meeting at Bedford Area High School Tuesday night.

That new discovery came about after several property owners asked the assessment office for an estimated tax amount and were told a value much higher than printed on initial letters from Tyler Technologies CLT Division, which handled the county's first reassessment in more than 50 years.

New Paris resident Marvin Miller was one of those people who realized the difference after appealing several mistakes to the assessment office. The value of his farm - in his family for three generations - was dropped from $443,200 to $239,000.

His taxes are currently at $1,489 and were estimated to reach $3,292. After the decrease in his farm's value, however, with the previously advertised 7.43 millage rate, his new taxes should have been about $1,800. They rose to $3,585 instead, Miller said.

"Basically, they doubled it," he said.

Miller's home's taxes also increased, showing the new doubling would not just affect property owners with more land.

Several people have expressed the same scenario in the past week, said taxpayers' association member Mark Swope, who showed his property record card to the Tuesday night crowd, while urging all residents to go to the assessment office before formal appeals begin next week.

Taxes on Swope's nine-acre property went from an expected $1,500 to a $3,000 estimate.

"It's wicked high," he said of the new rates. "It's double what your taxes were."

To calculate an approximate tax value, Swope said to multiply the assessed property value by 0.015. Previously, that calculation involved the value of about 0.0075.

"This is a dramatic change," Vice President Terry Chalfant said of the increase. Chalfant said he spoke with Chief Assessor Melissa Stultz Tuesday morning and that she confirmed the millage rate would be doubling.

Chief Assessor Melissa Stultz said Tuesday night that property rates won't necessarily double, but that her office was trying to emphasize that the taxes will be higher than originally thought.

"What we're trying to do is express to people that the first letter they received was incorrect and that their taxes will most certainly be higher than that," she said. "We have no idea where they will fall. No value has been set. We don't know what the millage rate is going to be."

Stultz said official tax rates won't be known until after the formal appeals and until Clean and Green participation numbers are known.

The taxpayers' association told those present that even if they previously thought their new rates were all right, they should still go to the assessment office and ask for their property record card, comparable sales and an aerial photograph if they have two or more acres. Check every detail on the property record card, Swope said.

Miller said a formal appeal likely will be in his future.

"You've got to go in there and fight your stuff," he said. "This has to be stopped. The homeowners have to get involved with this now."

Additional informational meetings will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Everett Area High School and at 7 p.m. Thursday at Chestnut Ridge High School.

The taxpayers' association can be reached at 624-2421. The assessment office is located on the first floor of the Bedford County Courthouse on South Juliana Street and will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday once the formal appeals begin Aug. 19.

The deadline to file an appeal is Sept. 1.

Mirror Staff Writer Wendy McCardle is at 946-7520.