Tim Brazelton lives on a house built in 1890 on Creek Road in Colerain Township.
While it has seen families come and go, the house has not moved.
Except the house was recently moved by the Lancaster County Assessor’s office. According to Brazelton, an assessor apparently looked at his home on a computer mapping system, moved it to neighboring Sadsbury Township, and left him scratching his head and with a higher property tax bill. (Property taxes are higher in Sadsbury Township in the Octorara School District than in Colerain Township, which is in the Solanco district).
“I spoke to the Lancaster County Assessor’s office and asked them what triggered this,” Brazelton told a small group at the Sadsbury Township Supervisors meeting Tuesday, Aug. 4. “They refused to give me specific information.”
Brazelton, who did not know the county had “moved” him until he received his property tax bill, consulted an attorney who advised him the assessor’s move was illegal. In digging, Brazelton, whose property has six separate tax parcels, discovered that what was in dispute was a “fence line curve” visible on the county map system, but which isn’t physically there.
“The house has been in Colerain Township for 120 years,” Brazelton said.
Brazelton told incredulous supervisors he did some thinking and decided the best solution would not be to go to court, but to ask supervisors in both municipalities to use their power under the municipal code and agree where the property line is.
Sadsbury supervisors agreed they would sign a municipal agreement with Colerain Township stating the house is indeed, as a formal 1899 map indicated, in Colerain Township.
“I apologize on behalf of the county,” said Gwen Newell a planner for Lancaster County, who attended the meeting to discuss planning issues.