The Lackawanna County property tax rate for 2026 is roughly 5.79 mills at the county level, down from 89.98 mills in 2025 because the county completed its first reassessment since 1968 and reset the base year to 2024. That county figure is only one piece of your bill. Every property in the county is taxed by three separate bodies — the county, your municipality, and your school district — and each sets its own millage rate independently, so the total you owe depends on where the property sits.
How Millage Rates Turn Into a Bill
Each taxing body expresses its rate in mills. One mill equals one dollar of tax for every one thousand dollars of assessed value. If your home is assessed at $150,000 and your combined rate across all three jurisdictions is 30 mills, your annual bill is $4,500 ($150,000 × 30 ÷ 1,000).
To calculate your own bill, multiply your assessed value by each of the three millage rates and divide by 1,000, then add the three results together. The Scranton School District, for example, set its 2026 rate at 9.5585 mills.1Scranton Single Tax Office. Real Estate Tax – Scranton School District A home assessed at $175,000 in that district owes about $1,672.74 in school taxes alone ($175,000 × 9.5585 ÷ 1,000). Municipal rates vary widely across the county’s roughly 40 boroughs, townships, and cities, and school rates vary across the 12 districts. The physical tax bill breaks out each component so you can verify the math.
Rates are set annually through public budget processes. The county commissioners hold budget hearings each fall and finalize the county rate by December.2Lackawanna County. County Budget Holds Line on Taxes Municipal councils and school boards follow their own timelines.
Why the 2026 Reassessment Changed the Numbers
Before 2026, every property in Lackawanna County was assessed based on what it would have been worth in 1968. A home with a current market value of $200,000 might have carried an assessed value of only a few thousand dollars, and millage rates were set astronomically high to compensate. The 2026 reassessment replaced those 1968 values with figures pegged to a 2024 base year, so your assessed value now reflects something close to what your property was actually worth in 2024.3Lackawanna County. Lackawanna County Reassessment 2026 For most owners, that number jumped considerably.
A higher assessment does not automatically mean a higher bill. Pennsylvania law requires every taxing body to adjust its millage downward so total revenue stays flat in a reassessment year. The county illustrated the arithmetic simply: a $50,000 assessment at 100 mills produces $5,000 in taxes, and a $100,000 assessment at 50 mills produces the same $5,000.3Lackawanna County. Lackawanna County Reassessment 2026 What shifts is the distribution. Properties that were undervalued relative to the market will see increases, while those that were overvalued may see decreases. The total pie stays the same size; the slices get recut.
Finding Your Assessed Value
The Lackawanna County Assessment Office maintains an online database where you can look up the assessed value for any parcel by owner name, address, or parcel ID.4Lackawanna County. Lackawanna County Assessment Database Search The values shown now reflect 2024 market conditions rather than the old 1968 figures.
Pennsylvania law allows a county to assess property at a predetermined ratio of actual value, up to 100%, and requires assessors to consider cost, comparable sales, and income approaches when determining that value.5Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Valuation of Property In practice, your assessed value should approximate what a willing buyer would have paid in the base year.
When Payment Is Due
Pennsylvania’s Local Tax Collection Law creates a three-phase payment cycle that applies throughout the state. Taxing districts must offer at least a 2% discount for payments made within two months of the notice date and may impose a penalty of up to 10% on payments made more than four months after the notice.6Pennsylvania General Assembly. Local Tax Collection Law
The 2026 Scranton calendar shows how this looks in practice:
- Discount period through April 15, 2026: pay and receive a 2% reduction.
- Face period from April 16 through June 30, 2026: full amount due, no adjustment.
- Penalty period from July 1 through December 31, 2026: a 10% penalty is added.7Scranton Single Tax Office. Scranton Single Tax Office
A quarterly installment option is also available, with payments due March 31, June 30, August 31, and October 30.7Scranton Single Tax Office. Scranton Single Tax Office Exact dates may differ in other municipalities, so check with your local tax collector for the deadlines that apply to your parcel.
Appealing an Assessment That Looks Wrong
If your new assessed value seems too high relative to what your property would actually sell for, or if similar homes nearby received noticeably lower assessments, you can file a formal appeal with the Lackawanna County Board of Assessment Appeals. The county recognizes three grounds:
- Market value: the estimated market value of your property is too high or too low.
- Uniformity: your value is not consistent with similar surrounding properties.
- Property characteristics: the county’s records about square footage, bedrooms, or condition are substantially incorrect.8Lackawanna County. Assessment Office
You file a Notice of Appeal form, available from the Assessment Office beginning April 1, with a filing fee of $35 for a residential parcel or $125 for a commercial parcel.8Lackawanna County. Assessment Office The county schedules hearings in batches, and the 2026 calendar includes sessions in March, June, and July. Separate application forms exist for residential and commercial properties.9Lackawanna County. Reassessment Formal Appeal Hearing Applications and Information
Strong appeals bring concrete evidence: a recent independent appraisal showing a lower value, comparable sale prices for similar nearby homes, or documentation that property records contain errors. The appeal board is required to consider the same cost, comparable sales, and income approaches the assessor used.5Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 53 – Valuation of Property
Programs That Can Reduce Your Bill
Several state programs cut what qualifying owners owe. Most require an application, so they are easy to miss.
Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program
Pennsylvania offers rebates of up to $1,000 for homeowners and renters who are 65 or older, widowed, or disabled, provided household income does not exceed $48,110 based on the most recent published threshold.10Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program Applications for the 2025 tax year are being accepted through June 30, 2026.11Pennsylvania Treasury. Newsroom The income limit is adjusted periodically.
Disabled Veteran Exemption
Veterans with a 100% permanent service-connected disability rating, or with service-connected blindness, paraplegia, or loss of two or more limbs, can qualify for a full exemption from real estate taxes on their primary residence. The exemption extends to surviving spouses. Applicants with annual income of $114,637 or less receive a presumption of financial need; those above that threshold can still qualify by showing that monthly expenses exceed income.12Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Real Estate Tax Exemption An honorable or under-honorable-conditions discharge and wartime service are required.
Homestead and Farmstead Exclusion
If your property is your primary residence, the Homestead Exclusion reduces the assessed value before your tax is calculated. Farmstead exclusions work similarly for qualifying agricultural buildings. Application deadlines fall in the early months of the year. Contact the Lackawanna County Assessment Office to confirm the current exclusion amount under the new reassessment values and whether you need to reapply.
Clean and Green
Owners of agricultural, forest, or open-space land of at least 10 acres, or smaller parcels generating at least $2,000 in annual farm income, can enroll in Pennsylvania’s Clean and Green program for a lower, use-based assessment instead of market value. Break the covenant by changing the land use and you owe seven years of rollback taxes at 6% annual interest, calculated as the difference between what you paid and what you would have paid at full assessment.13Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Clean and Green Land enrolled under the Agricultural Reserve category must also stay open to the public for passive recreation free of charge, though the owner can set reasonable restrictions.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
Unpaid property taxes follow a defined escalation. Any balance still owed after the penalty period becomes officially delinquent as of December 31, and the Lackawanna County Tax Claim Bureau takes over collection.14Lackawanna County. Tax Claim Bureau
The bureau files a tax claim and sends required notices. If the claim goes unpaid and becomes absolute the following January 1 after proper notice, the property becomes eligible for an upset sale scheduled between the second Monday of September and October 1. At an upset sale, the property is sold subject to all existing liens and mortgages. If the upset sale fails, the county can petition the court for a judicial sale, where the property is sold free and clear of liens provided all lien holders received proper notice. At that stage, the original owner loses the property and any equity above the sale price. The bureau must provide at least 30 days’ notice by certified mail, publish the sale in two newspapers of general circulation, and post the property before any sale can proceed.15Pennsylvania General Assembly. Real Estate Tax Sale Law You have months of warning before losing a property, but interest and fees during delinquency make the hole deeper the longer you wait.