Property tax change reported in Juniata County

New owners will not absorb liability for sellers’ debt

MIFFLINTOWN -- Innovation in Pennsylvania property tax collection benefits Juniata County home buyers, county Housing Director Brenda Varner told the Juniata County Commissioners Tuesday, sharing details of Act 57, which was recently signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf.

Under the law, tax fees can be waived completely for new home buyers, which reverses a decades-long practice that by default left new homeowners responsible for taxes on their newly purchased property. In many cases, new homeowners didn't know they were paying the tax on the home for a time period in that they had not lived in the home and this subsequent tax should have been levied on the seller of the property.

This previously occurred solely due to state tax timing.

"People will have to get a waiver from the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development, people will have to fill the waiver out and will have to have proof behind that," Varner explained. "New homeowners are going to have to have proof of when the property was purchased."

Juniata County residents can ask questions and receive further direction by reaching out to the Juniata County Housing Department at (717) 436-7705.

Also on Tuesday, in looking forward to protecting county residents from any possible severe weather or hazardous waste disasters, Juniata County Commissioners approved motions by Mike Hummel, who is working with MCI Consultants in the document collection process. The Harzardous Waste Mitigation Grant program secures funding for the for the county's Hazmat Mitigation Plan, which is a federal requirement under the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

This process update is on schedule and is required every five years by the state of Pennsylvania.

"The plan takes five years in between to update," Hummel said. "This closes a lot of gaps for the county." Commissioner Alice Gray asked if the plan would be evaluated every year; Hummel confirmed that it would be.

In other business Tuesday the board:

• Approved ordinance No. 2022-18, a resolution to delay the implementation of Ordinance No. 2022-1, also known as the County of Juniata Uniform Parcel Identifier Ordinance.

• Approve tax exonerations for Milford Township.

• Approved a three-year agreement between Pictometry International Corp. and Juniata County for aerial photography services, effective immediately, at a cost of $16,956.67 per year.

• Approved the contracts between Juniata County and Vision Government Services Inc., also effective immediately, for Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) subscription to software services at an annual fee of $38,725, which shall automatically renew for successive one-year periods at Vision's then-current rates unless either party cancels at least 90 days prior to the end of the term; and Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) implementation services for a one-time fee of $128,000, which shall be paid in four increments.

• Approves the use of the County Records Improvement Fund to purchase a computer monitor and related equipment at a total cost of $1,189.97 for security monitoring; and a Xerox color laser printer for the Account Payable and Human Resources Departments at a cost of $563.31.

• Approved payment of a Juniata County Hazardous Materials check in the amount of $150 to Bucks County Community College for a Hazmat Refresher course.

• Approved payment of check Nos. 66356 through 66415 in the amount of $140,430.87, and check Nos.

66416 through 66492 in the amount of $158,026.90.

Neither the Salary Board nor the Retirement Board had business scheduled on Tuesday.