Pa. Auditor General Finds Widespread Errors In Property Tax Calculations
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - Auditor General Jack Wagner says Pennsylvania homeowners may be paying too much – or too little – in property taxes because a state agency isn't doing its job properly.
At issue are the data produced by STEB – the State Tax Equalization Board – an agency that reconciles the differences in property values caused by the fact that some counties haven't reassessed property values in decades. That equalized data is used to help calculate how much state education subsidies districts get. Wagner says that his auditors found a 65 percent error rate in records from 70 municipalities sampled in 2008.
"Property taxes are already too high in Pennsylvania, and homeowners should not be forced to pay even more because STEB management and its employees can't, won't, or haven't fixed the problem."
Wagner says STEB has attempted to address the problems that occurred in 2008, but he does not believe all of the problems have been fixed.
Reported by Tony Romeo, KYW Newsradio
