Rooney v. Lebanon County Board of Assessment Appeals

Plaintiffs sought a county-wide reassessment of all real property in Lebanon County. Action was brought as a tax assessment appeal. Unlike in most assessment appeals, we agreed that the fair market value assigned to Plaintiffs' property was correct. However, we challenged the system for assessment, arguing that the failure to conduct a county-wide assessment of all properties for over 30 years created an unconstitutional lack of uniformity.

After the court rejected the County's argument that such a demand for relief could only be brought by a mandamus action, the case was scheduled for trial. At trial, we were prepared to show an analysis of all real estate transactions in the county for six months. This analysis showed that the coefficient of dispersion, a measure of the uniformity, was 32.8% - far higher than the 15.0% generally considered acceptable.

Immediately before the hearing, the County agreed to settle. The settlement includes a court determination that there is a lack of uniformity as a matter of law, and an order that a county-wide reassessment of all real estate be completed by December 21, 2012.