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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny County, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending and conforming Article 210 of the Administrative Code entitled “Assessment Standards and Practices” to: comply with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision in Clifton, et al. v. Allegheny County and Pierce, et al. v. Allegheny County by providing a methodology to equalize base year values through periodic, computer assisted, countywide reassessments; phase-in increases to property assessments so as to protect property owners from the undue financial burden of such increases; and to preclude the County and local taxing bodies from obtaining “windfall” property tax revenues as a result of any adjustments to the base year system.
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WHEREAS, the County adopted Ordinance No. 45-05-OR which establishes a base year system; and
WHEREAS, by its decision in Clifton, et al. v. Allegheny County and Pierce, et al. v. Allegheny County, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recently invalidated the County's application of its base year system; and
WHEREAS, despite invalidating the County's application of its base year system, the Supreme Court did not invalidate the base year statute; and
WHEREAS, the rationale for invalidating the County's application of its base year system is the High Court's determination that it violates the Uniformity Clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution because of significant disparities in the ratio of assessed value to fair market value and because the County's application of its base year system discriminated against poor and low income property owners; and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court reasoned that the disparities in the ratio of assessed value to fair market value and the discrimination against poor and low income property owners are because the County's base year system is an “unadjusted” base year system; and
WHEREAS, the County desires to comply with the Supreme Court's decision and remedy the disparity between assessed valu...
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