Pa. county taps Manatron for appraisal work

A Pennsylvania county has signed several contracts with Manatron Inc. for software and appraisal services.

Clinton County, in the north central part of the state, is purchasing Manatron CAMA, a property appraisal software solution, to replace its paper-based appraisal process. The total value of the contracts is about $1.2 million.

Manatron of Portage, Mich., also will provide mass appraisal services to revalue all of the residential, commercial, agricultural and industrial property in the county. That totals about 25,000 parcels, the company said.

Clinton County, home to about 37,500 residents, last conducted a countywide property appraisal in 1972. Its property tax rates are still based on property values established in that year.

The County Assessor's office has since then changed property valued only when external structures were added to a parcel or when countywide inflationary or market factor was determined. The County Assessor has not made adjustments to property values for internal remodeling or other external improvements.

Manatron, using CAMA, expects to complete the new property values by May 2008, in time for the 2009 tax bills.