This past week the County Executive vetoed two pieces of legislation that would have continued two separate tax abatement programs that allow for temporary discounts, one for new construction and one for home improvements, on County taxes only (meaning even with an approved abatement the taxpayer would be subject to municipal and school taxes unless those jurisdictions offered identical programs). The programs were started in 1996 and periodically re-approved to extend deadlines, most recently in 2011.
| The Executive noted in his veto message that “If we were to continue this tax break, or give others to a small group of people, it means that we would have to raise taxes on everyone else sooner than I feel is reasonable or acceptable.” The Executive noted that the abatements are utilized by “…a very small percentage of homeowners, less than one half-of one percent” so on the one hand it is easy to see why such programs could go but also hard to understand why they would prod on a millage hike.
In fact, the County offers a slew of other abatements and exclusions that are tailored for specific uses to lower County taxes. Along with the two mentioned above, for homestead and farmsteads (Act 50), commercial and industrial properties (LERTA, though the County does not participate in the program in every municipality where it is offered), senior citizens based on income and length of occupancy (Act 77), construction for disabled individuals (Act 132), land for agriculture (Act 156), and catastrophic loss.
In 2011 Council raised the idea of altering the amount of the homestead/farmstead exclusion. We ran a variety of scenarios based on changing what was at the time a $15,000 exclusion amount (it is now $18,000). Council plans on discussing legislation that would “…decrease the amount of assessed value of each homestead and farmstead property within Allegheny County”. A home assessed for tax purposes at $100,000 that does not take the homestead exclusion would pay $473 to the County; taking the exclusion results in a tax bill of $387; reducing the exclusion back to $15,000 where it stood in 2011 would mean a tax bill of $402 for the homeowner assuming no change in millage. |
