For a new round of property reassessment in Monroe County, a higher-tech option will help streamline the field assessment process.
According to Monroe County Commissioner Chairman John Christy, this year’s county reassessment will look different than the last reassessment in 2019. Christy said the county will use satellite technology to compare results of recent flyovers to those that were done last reassessment. If properties are different, the county will send out people to see what was constructed.
“In our last reassessment, we had to go out and visit all of our properties,” said Christy. “We do not have to do that in this one.”
Christy said the county is looking to achieve being revenue neutral through reassessment.
“Some people go up, some people go down, some stay the same,” said Christy. “It just levels the playing field.”
In a post about reassessment on Monroe County’s website, the county said that officials agreed after the 2019 reassessment that it “would help maintain fairness and accuracy” to conduct future reassessments every five to seven years. The post also said that Monroe County’s Common Level Ratio (CLR) fell to 45.47%
“When a county’s CLR drops below 50%, it means that, on average, properties are being taxed on values that are less than half of their current market worth,” the post reads. It additionally states that this typically signals outdated county assessments and unfairly distributed tax burdens, meaning that some owners pay “far more than their fair share,” while others might underpay.
The post says that the CLR, which is published annually by the commonwealth’s State Tax Equalization Board, “compares the county’s assessed values to actual market sale prices.”
A press release from the county states that if property owners are visited by a field assessor, they “will be easily identifiable by their Monroe County-issued polo shirts and official photo ID badges.” They will identify themselves by knocking on doors and explaining what their visit is for.
They will conduct assessment fieldwork between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, and they may ask brief questions regarding the property, such as when the home was built, whether attics and basements are finished and how many bedrooms and bathrooms it has.
They can only take photos of and measure the exterior of the property. Residents should report anyone claiming to be a field assessor who tries to enter their residence immediately to law enforcement, as well as to the Monroe County Assessment Office at 570-517-3133.
Christy told the Pocono Record that last time, it cost $7 million to upgrade technology used for the reassessment. This time, reassessment will cost the county $2 million.
The release states that around Nov. 1, 2025, postcards with QR codes will be sent to property owners so they can review and update their property’s data. Monroe County has scheduled the reassessment to be effective in 2028.
Max Augugliaro is the public safety and government watchdog reporter at the Pocono Record. Reach him at MAugugliaro@gannett.com.