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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending and supplementing the Administrative Code of Allegheny County, Article 808, entitled “Taxation,” through the creation of a new §5-808.02, entitled “Tax Bill Disclosure Bill of Rights,” in order to establish mandatory best practices regarding the County real estate tax bills.
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Whereas, the Second Class County Code, specifically 16 P.S. §3707(d), requires that the County Treasurer place upon each tax bill sent out, and upon each tax receipt issued upon payment, the lot and block system descriptive numbers, but neither requires nor prohibits the inclusion of any additional information; and
Whereas, although most taxing bodies must provide at least 60 days from the date of taxpayers’ receipt of tax notices for payment of real estate taxes at a discounted rate under the terms of the Commonwealth’s Local Tax Collection Law (specifically 72 P.S. §5511.10), Allegheny and Philadelphia Counties are expressly exempted from this statute; and
Whereas, the Second Class County Code, which does apply to Allegheny County, expressly grants “the power and authority to establish and fix the discount period and the rate of discount not less than two per centum” via legislative act, at 16 P.S. §4975; and
Whereas, it is the judgment of Council that the Local Tax Collection Law’s allowance of at least 60 days for taxpayers to avail themselves of the discounted tax rate is equitable and establishes a best practice for Pennsylvania counties; and
Whereas, it is accordingly the desire of Council to establish a codified standard for tax bill mailing timeliness and a clear delineation of the results of late mailings, as well as a standardized form for tax bills such that taxpayers receive complete information and are not disadvantaged by late mailings;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1.
The preamble to this ordinance is hereby incorporated by refe...
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