The report below, Bringing the Reassessment Saga to an End, by Jake Pawlak, analyzes Allegheny County Council Bill 13892-26 — legislation that would mandate a countywide property reassessment in 2028 and set a standardized schedule of reassessments every three years thereafter.
On March 24, 2026, Allegheny County Councilmembers Bethany Hallam, Lissa Geiger-Shulman, and Dan Gryzbek introduced Council Bill 13892-26, which would mandate a Countywide property reassessment in 2028 and establish a standardized schedule of reassessments every three years thereafter.
If adopted by Council and signed by County Executive Sara Innamorato, this policy change would mark a significant milestone in real estate tax policy – both in Allegheny County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a whole. Pennsylvania is unique among states in lacking a statewide requirement for the frequency of reassessments, and the issue has plagued the politics of Allegheny County for decades.
Infrequently and irregularly conducted reassessments present a host of issues for Allegheny County and its constituent municipalities and school districts, ranging from frequent legal challenges and a lack of tax fairness to the destabilization of local revenues. While these challenges are the long-standing and systemic result of a broken assessment system, their impacts have been accelerated and magnified by the 2022 Gioffre v Fitzgerald court decision, which, coupled with the post-covid realignment of the commercial real estate market, has elevated the reassessment issue from a chronic challenge to an incipient crisis for local government revenues.
In ordering a reassessment in 2028 and establishing a fixed schedule of reassessments thereafter, Council Bill 13892-26 confronts head-on both the acute challenges of the moment and the systemic failings of the overarching reassessment regime.