Property owners across Schuylkill County are about to receive their Official Change of Assessment Notices in the mail.
Schuylkill County Commissioner Boots Hetherington said Wednesday that these important mailers went out late on June 30. That means property owners will start receiving them, likely this week and early next week.
This is one of the critical final steps of Schuylkill County’s ongoing property tax reassessment process. The new assessed values will take effect at the beginning of 2026.
When the absolute final assessments are completed – pending some expected appeals in the coming months – the County and municipalities will formalize new millage rates. Taxing bodies are required to create a new millage rate that is revenue neutral to the amount of money collected through property taxes in 2025.
For instance, if Schuylkill County collected $50 million in 2025 at the current millage rate it must set a new millage rate for 2026 that has it collect exactly $50 million once again.
Once the new millage rate is set, the County is permitted to raise property taxes in the same year but it’s capped at 10%.
Assessment Mailers Sent
The notices that are about to hit mailboxes across Schuylkill County in the coming days will have several key pieces of information inside. Most notably will be a property’s new assessed value. That’s the value at which it will be taxed going forward.
Earlier this year, the Commissioners voted to tax properties at 100% of their assessed value, not the 50% the County had been assessing since at least the last reassessment conducted in 1996.
The letter will also show the projected tax impact the new assessment value will have for each property owner.
Vision Government Solutions, the company hired by the County to conduct the reassessment, said it’s including these estimates so a property owner will get an idea of how much they’ll owe in property taxes going forward, compared to what they’re currently paying.
At previous informational sessions regarding the property tax reassessment, VGS has said that approximately one-third of owners will see their taxes go up, one-third will go down, and another third will stay about the same. Some property owners can expect to see drastic changes, either up or down, in their property tax bills in the future.
Appeals Process
Once a property owner receives their Official Assessment Notice, they have a right to a formal appeal with the County. There is a 40-day window during which an appeal can be filed. The last day to file for an appeal is Aug. 11.
Appeals for residential property owners will be heard by three-person auxiliary boards the county is staffing. Lawyers and appraisers are not required for these appeals hearings.
Commercial property owners will have their appeals heard by a County-staffed appeals board.
However, property owners who wish to challenge their new assessed values are encouraged to bring evidence to back their arguments toward getting a lower assessed value.
All appeals will be heard in August, September, and October.
Changes in assessed values granted through the appeals process could have an impact on the projected tax impacts that are going to be included in the Change of Assessment mailers because these changes will likely affect the millage rate used to generate those estimates.
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