BELLEFONTE — To better accommodate the administrative timeline for hearing and deciding cases, the Centre County Commissioners have moved up the annual deadline for filing property assessment appeals with the Board of Assessment Appeals.

Under a resolution approved Tuesday, the filing deadline will shift from Sept. 1 to Aug. 1 beginning this year.

County officials said the change is intended to give the volunteer appeals board and assessment staff enough time to meet legal notice requirements and complete hearings by the annual Oct. 31 decision deadline.

A one-time grace period through Sept. 1, 2026, will be offered to help taxpayers adjust to the earlier cutoff.

Chief Assessor Mark Kellerman, who brought the resolution before the commissioners for approval, said the change is something his office has wanted for several years.

Because the Board of Assessment Appeals is a volunteer body, it is often difficult to coordinate meeting times, Kellerman said. Appeals must be heard and decided by the end of October, leaving a short window to convene the board after the filing deadline, particularly given the requirement to provide appellants at least 20 days’ notice of a hearing date.

“Our timeframe in there is very short to get the board lined up, and that board may have to meet three to four times in that time frame,” Kellerman said.

Staffing in the Assessment Office adds to the challenge.

“We’re very busy that time of year,” Kellerman added.

In September, the office handles a lot of work related to new construction, meaning, “it’s always a push that time of year to get the work done,” he said.

Commissioner Steve Dershem said the assessment appeals board, by statute, falls under the office of the commissioners, and its work requires specialized knowledge and expertise.

“Commissioners, long before me, recognized the fact that there needs to be a really specific set of skills, knowledge and expertise to perform these functions,” he said. “I want to first say thank you to you and the Board of Assessment Appeals for taking that responsibility on because it’s a lot of work. But it’s important work because it’s part of what makes the tax process fair.”

“Without a high-functioning Board of Assessment Appeals, that would be impossible,” Dershem added. “I think it makes complete sense to give them that extra time to work because some of these issues of reassessment are incredibly complicated.”

With the resolution’s approval, this year’s filing deadline is now officially Aug. 1, 2026, though appeals submitted through Sept. 1 will not incur penalties. After 2026, no grace period will be offered, and appeals received after the Aug. 1 cutoff will be deferred to the following year. All submissions must be received in the office by the deadline; postmarks will not be accepted.

The resolution also modestly raises the filing fee for residential appeals from $25 to $35 to reflect rising administrative costs.

“Part of this whole process is to modify the appeal procedures, rules and regulations the board has for appellants,” Kellerman said. He added that, in addition to the previously discussed changes, “a very important part of this is adding a section… (outlining) a procedure for granting disabled veteran exemption status.”

“Of course the commissioners, Commonwealth-wide, do support our 100 percent disabled war veterans,” said Commissioner Chair Mark Higgins. “We’re happy to more clearly define their role for the exemptions.”

Kellerman said the changes will be communicated to Centre County taxpayers on their tax bills, which will begin coming out in March, and repeated in June with the approval of the tax rolls.