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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, providing for the creation of an Allegheny County Assessments Advisory Panel in order to identify, anticipate, and remedy issues pertaining to the system of property assessment utilized in Allegheny County.
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WHEREAS, Allegheny County's sole means of collecting tax revenues to fund its operations and capital expenditures is through the property tax; and
WHEREAS, maintaining equity and uniformity within the system used to assess properties within the County is of paramount importance to both the County and the individuals and companies that own property here; and
WHEREAS, the assessment system has been subject to numerous alterations, revisions, and court challenges since 2000; and
WHEREAS, on June 6, 2007, the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas held that the state law allowing the use of a base year assessment system violates the Pennsylvania Constitution;
WHEREAS, this ruling has left both the County and its property owners uncertain about the future of property assessments in the County; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of Council to have access to extensive information regarding the current system of assessments, the issues surrounding any changes that may take place, and potential alternative systems of assessments;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Establishment of Allegheny County Assessments Advisory Panel.
There is hereby established a seven (7) member Allegheny County Assessments Advisory Panel (hereinafter "Panel" or "the Panel"). The Panel generally shall be empowered to study and make recommendations to Allegheny County Council with regard to the identification, anticipation and remediation of issues that arise in connection with the current system of assessments, changes that may take place to that system, and potential alternative systems of assessments.
The President of Allegheny County Co...
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