Assessments stuck in 1994 time warp

milford — Folks from the county’s assessment office say that undeveloped lot that existed in 1994 has the same base assessed tax value today as it did then. Despite the economy, state law prohibits assessors from making changes, unless the entire county is reassessed, Gene Porterfield told the Milford Supervisors Monday. Porterfield, director of operations for 21st Century Appraisals, the contractor that handles county assessments, was invited to appear to explain some of the disparate values that Township Secretary and Tax Collector Viola Vaicels had found on various township lots. And it will stay that way until Pike reassesses. There is no time limit on the tax break, Porterfield said. “That makes no sense,” Supervisor Don Quick commented. Porterfield said that the more time that passes between revaluations, the wider the disparities. How much is being lost in county property tax revenues? Porterfield said the last state estimate found that countywide, Pike property assessments may be undervalued or overvalued by 28 to 32 percent. Porterfield, a former state senator, said legislators can’t agree on how to correct the law; he tried while in office. Asked when the next reassessment will take place he said, “The county (commisioners ) has to make that decision.”