Solicitor: Common level ratio changes shrank commercial tax base, pressuring Bethel Park budget

Bethel Park School District officials were told on Wednesday that shifts in Allegheny County's common level ratio (CLR) and recent assessment appeals have substantially reduced the district's commercial tax base and are driving the need for a tax-rate increase.

Lee Delacre, filling in for the district solicitor, told the board the CLR is "effectively a tool that's used in assessment litigation to basically arrive at the average amount of appreciation a property experiences from one year to the next." He said county practices and court rulings since 2022 have produced a CLR outcome that has been used by some commercial taxpayers to lower assessments.

The explanation matters for district budgeting because, Delacre said, "when the tax base shrinks, there are very few tools in the school district's arsenal to account for that." He told the board the county's commercial assessed value dropped by more than $1 billion in 2025 countywide, and that 32 of 43 school districts in the county increased millage last year.

Board members tied that county-level trend to local impacts. A board speaker said the district "lost $1,500,000 in assessment value to one large corporate holding" in the community and that the potential for refund liability and continuing appeals must be considered when setting a millage rate and the budget.

Delacre outlined remedies but said they are long-term: the principal fix is a countywide reassessment, which previous litigation shows can take several years to implement. He also described current litigation taking different forms, including suits by Pittsburgh Public Schools and private homeowners that challenge county assessment practices.

The board said the discussion was intended to inform the public and prepare members before a budget vote next week that will include a proposed tax-rate increase. No final district action on reassessment or litigation was taken at the meeting.

The discussion included data points presented to the board: the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy reported a countywide taxable assessed value reduction in 2025, and Delacre said the CLR had been stagnant for years before the court challenge that changed county practice. Board members asked staff to factor potential refund liabilities and assessment losses into next week's budget proposal.

The board and solicitor emphasized that the shift in assessed value has the practical effect of transferring tax burden from commercial property owners to residential taxpayers when millage rates are raised to make up lost revenue.