The County and its municipalities run their fiscal year on a calendar basis, and so in two weeks will have presumably established their property tax rates for 2013 and adjusting them for revenue neutral requirements under Act 71 of 2005. The only school district in Allegheny County that operates on a calendar fiscal year is the Pittsburgh Public Schools, and they have proposed a millage rate of 9.65 so as to comply with Act 1 of 2006 requirements, which state that in a year of reassessment a school district can’t collect more revenue than what is allowed by its Act 1 index for the previous year.
As of now, proposed rates and homestead exemptions (which lower the assessed value of a qualified owner-occupied home for tax purposes) for 2013 are as follows:
Allegheny County: 4.73 mills, $15,000 exemption
City of Pittsburgh: 7.56 mills, $15,000 exemption
Pittsburgh Public Schools: 9.65 mills, $28,685 exemption
All millage rates were adjusted downward; the County’s homestead exemption amount is unchanged, the City’s proposed exemption is up from $10,000 last year, and the school district’s amount is higher due to increased gambling receipts (it was $19,000 in 2012).
A home in the City assessed at $115,000 that took all available exemptions would have a tax bill of $3,039 in 2012. That amounts to 2.6% of the assessed value.
Assume that the assessed value for the home rose 50% and no appeal of the value was undertaken, establishing the 2013 assessed value at $172,500. The resulting tax bill for 2013 would be $3,328 for 2013, an increase of $289 (10%) over the 2012 tax bill. The tax bill would equal 1.9% of the assessed value.
