Lehigh County looking to establish fees for property assessment appeals | Lehigh Valley Regional News

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners is seeking to establish fees for real estate property assessment appeals.

The commissioners on Wednesday night had a first reading of a proposed ordinance to establish the fees.

Up until the present time, the county has borne the entire cost of the services provided in the real estate property tax assessment appeals process and did not collect any fees from appealing parties.

The proposed fees will be $50 for residential properties and $200 for commercial properties.

Additionally, the fee to file an appeal for exemption from property taxes will be $200, and the fee to reschedule an assessment appeal will be $25.

Commissioner Antonio Pineda said the proposed ordinance will treat everyone looking to appeal to an assessment fairly and equally.

Pineda pointed out that fees will be waived when an appeal is filed because of a change in the real estate property tax assessment coming from the office or assessment.

“I think that we’ve come to a bill that is an agreement of all the goals that we may have on this board,” Pineda said.

The bill will be on the agenda for a second reading on Jan. 25.