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An Ordinance of the Allegheny County Council amending Part 5, Article 207 of the Administrative Code to establish the duties of the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review under the Home Rule Charter with regard to reporting property owners' names on the County's real estate website, and amending Ordinance No. 58-03-OR to render it consistent with the amended Administrative Code.
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WHEREAS, Article X, Section 5 of the Home Rule Charter establishes that the Board of Property Assessment Appeals and Review shall ensure access to public records regarding assessments; and
WHEREAS, County Council recognizes that certain portions of real estate records are public records, but also that other information that is currently shown on the assessment website may have the potential for compromising the safety or security of County residents; and
WHEREAS, the County real estate website was created to enable property owners free and convenient access to public information for the purpose of searching for and identifying properties, rather than individuals; and
WHEREAS, the current configuration of the County's assessment website allows any person with access to the internet to use only an individual's name to discover his or her address and, in many cases, to gain access to photographs of the outside and/or floor plans of the inside of his or her home; and
WHEREAS, neither the Home Rule Charter nor any applicable state statute requires that the County real estate website permit searches of properties by owner name;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1.
Article 207, ยง207.07(F) of the Administrative Code of Allegheny County is hereby amended as follows:
Section 207.07 Powers and Duties of Board
The new Appeals Board shall have the power and its duty shall be to:
A. Hear all cases of appeals from assessments and tax exemption status determination in accordance with its rules and r...
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