RFP Professional Appraisal Expert Services

Location:	Pennsylvania
Posted:	Apr 6, 2026
Due:	Apr 30, 2026
Agency:	Lackawanna County
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	R - Professional, Administrative and Management Support Services
Solicitation No:	Services
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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LACKAWANNA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

PROFESSIONAL APPRAISAL EXPERT SERVICES

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a fair and open process, The Lackawanna

County Commissioners, are soliciting proposals from qualiﬁed appraisers and appraisal

ﬁrms to provide professional appraisal and expert witness services for real property tax

assessment appeals. This is a Qualiﬁcations-Based Selection (QBS) procurement. Pricing

will be negotiated only with the highest-ranked Offeror(s) after qualiﬁcation ranking.

PROCUREMENT STATEMENT

Although Lackawanna County is not required by law to solicit these professional services

through a competitive Request for Proposals process, the County has elected to do so

voluntarily in order to attract the most highly qualiﬁed providers and to achieve the best

value for its taxpayers.

Request for Proposal details shall be found at the county website.

https://cms8.revize.com/revize/lackawanna/government/departments/rfp_rfq.php

Any updates or amendments to this request shall be posted to the county website.

It is the responsibility of the proposers to check the website for changes.

BACKGROUND

Lackawanna County completed its ﬁrst county-wide reassessment since 1968 utilizing

Tyler Technologies. The new assessed valuations became effective for the 2026 tax year.

This reassessment has produced a substantial increase in taxpayer appeals ﬁled with the

Lackawanna County Board of Assessment Appeals, with the potential for de novo appeals

in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. The County requires experienced

outside appraisers to defend the assessed valuations and uphold the integrity and

uniformity of the assessment roll.

SCOPE OF SERVICES

Services will be provided on an as-needed basis via written Task Orders. Services include,

but are not limited to:

• Field inspections, data veriﬁcation, and preparation of USPAP-compliant appraisal

reports and reviews to defend the County’s assessed valuations.

LACKAWANNA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

PROFESSIONAL APPRAISAL EXPERT SERVICES

• Expert witness services: Selected appraisers must be available to prepare for,

appear at, and provide live testimony before the Lackawanna County Board of

Assessment Appeals and in de novo proceedings before the Lackawanna County

Court of Common Pleas. Testimony will address the appraiser’s opinions of value,

methodology, supporting data, and compliance with the Consolidated County

Assessment Law. Appraisers will be subject to direct examination by County

counsel and cross-examination by opposing counsel. Offerors must demonstrate

prior experience and willingness to provide such courtroom testimony effectively

and professionally.

• Coordination with County legal counsel.

TERM OF CONTRACT AND COMPENSATION

The successful Offeror(s) will provide the requested professional services to Lackawanna

County on an “as-needed” basis pursuant to individual written Task Orders or Assignments

issued by the County Solicitor or the Director of Assessment (or their designees).

Compensation shall be based solely upon hourly rates. Offerors must submit, as part of

their proposal, a detailed rate schedule listing hourly billing rates for each classiﬁcation of

personnel (e.g., Principal Appraiser, Staff Appraiser, Support Staff). Rates submitted will be

considered during the qualiﬁcations-based evaluation and will be ﬁnalized through

negotiation with the highest-ranked Offeror(s). All work must be pre-authorized by a written

Task Order that may include a not-to-exceed amount for that assignment. Monthly invoices

shall include detailed time entries, descriptions of services performed, and supporting

documentation. Contingent fee arrangements of any kind are strictly prohibited.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Proposals must be received no later than April 30, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. EST.

Email the complete proposal (PDF) to Traci Harte, Deputy Chief of Staff at

hartet@lackawannacounty.org (mailto:hartet@lackawannacounty.org) with a hard copy

and/or USB drive to follow at:

Lackawanna County Government Center

123 Wyoming Avenue, 6th Floor

Scranton, PA 18503 Clearly mark the envelope and subject line: “ Property Appraisal Expert

Services”.

All inquiries must be directed solely in writing to Pat Tobin, Director of Assessment, at

TobinP@lackawannacounty.org. Emailed questions must be submitted by April 27, 2026,

LACKAWANNA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

PROFESSIONAL APPRAISAL EXPERT SERVICES

4:00PM EST. Contact with any other County official or employee may result in

disqualiﬁcation.

EVALUATION CRITERIA (QBS – 100 points)

1. Experience providing ad-valorem/tax appeal appraisals and expert testimony in PA

(35 points)

2. Qualiﬁcations, certiﬁcations (PA Certiﬁed General Appraiser required), and

experience of proposed appraisers (25 points)

3. Demonstrated courtroom testimony history (including sample transcripts or case

lists) (15 points)

4. Capacity and USPAP/E&O compliance (10 points)

5. References (10 points)

6. Proposed hourly rate schedule (5 points)

REQUIRED PROPOSAL CONTENTS

(Must include the following in this exact order):

• Firm history and overview, including number of years in business, organizational

structure, and relevant experience providing appraisal services to Pennsylvania

counties or other governmental entities.

• Individual appraiser resumes and qualiﬁcations for all personnel who will perform

services, including current Pennsylvania Certiﬁed General Real Estate Appraiser

certiﬁcations (with license numbers and expiration dates), education, years of

experience, and professional affiliations.

• Sample USPAP-compliant appraisal reports and/or transcripts (or written

summaries) of prior expert testimony in real-property tax assessment appeals.

• Conﬂict of interest disclosure statement (Offerors must affirm that neither the ﬁrm

nor any proposed appraiser has represented taxpayers in Lackawanna County

assessment appeals within the last ﬁve (5) years and agrees not to do so during the

contract term).

LACKAWANNA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

PROFESSIONAL APPRAISAL EXPERT SERVICES

• Insurance certiﬁcates evidencing minimum coverage of Two Million Dollars

($2,000,000) in Errors & Omissions / Professional Liability insurance (plus general

liability and workers’ compensation as required by County policy).

• Completed Non-Collusion Affidavit (using the County’s standard form).

• List of at least three (3) professional references from similar ad-valorem or tax

appeal engagements (preferably other Pennsylvania counties), including contact

information.

• Proposed hourly rate schedule (detailed by personnel classiﬁcation).

• Any other standard county attachments or forms required by the Purchasing

Department.

STANDARD TERMS

The County reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, not to select any Offerors or

make any award, to award contracts to multiple ﬁrms, to waive any informalities or

irregularities, and to select the Offeror(s) deemed to be in the best interest of the County.

Proposals shall remain valid and irrevocable for six (6) months following the submission

deadline. The successful Offeror(s) will be required to execute a Professional Services

Agreement containing the County’s standard terms and conditions, including (but not

limited to) indemniﬁcation and hold-harmless provisions, insurance requirements,

termination for cause or convenience, compliance with the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know

Law and all other applicable laws, data security and conﬁdentiality obligations, and non-

discrimination clauses. Final award and contract execution are subject to approval by the

Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners.

COMMUNICATION WITH COUNTY OFFICIALS: All inquiries must be directed solely in

writing to Pat Tobin, Director of Assessment, at TobinP@lackawannacounty.org. Any ﬁrm that

makes any effort to communicate with any other official of Lackawanna County, either

directly or indirectly, during this process will be EXCLUDED from consideration.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS: The Board of Commissioners reserves the right to reject any and

all submissions, in whole or in part, and to waive any immaterial defect or informality in any

proposal as may be permitted by law.

LACKAWANNA COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

PROFESSIONAL APPRAISAL EXPERT SERVICES

This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.

RFP Professional Appraisal Expert Services

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