County Extends Reassessment Review Deadline

Property owners in Lehigh County now have until Friday, March 23, to request a review of their reassessments.

Lehigh County is extending the deadline by one week since the new preliminary assessed values for all properties in the county were not available to the public until this week, said Brad Osborne, chairman of the county Board of Commissioners.

The initial deadline to request a review was March 16.

More than 300 taxpayers in Salisbury and more than 5,500 countywide have asked for a review of their reassessments.  Reviews with an assessor will be scheduled between mid-March and mid-June.

With the the preliminary property reassessments on its website, property owners have a tool for searching other properties in their neighborhoods to determine how their property compares. Depending on what they learn, the information could support an argument for a different value for their property. 

According to information provided by Lehigh County, the assessment value is influenced by such things as market sales, lot size and location, total square footage of living area and number of bathrooms and fireplaces.

The assessment value is not influenced by whether the homeowner has remodeled a bathroom or put in new windows or a roof, the county has said. Those improvements, however, could affect a home's market value.