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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending and reforming Article 210 of the Administrative Code entitled “Assessment Standards and Practices” to provide for a fairer and more stable property assessment system in Allegheny County.
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Whereas, the Home Rule Charter of Allegheny County, Article X, Section 5, requires that the assessment system in the County shall be consistent with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and “shall meet accepted assessments standards;” and
Whereas, the General County Assessment Law dictates that “In arriving at actual value the county may utilize either the current market value or it may adopt a base year market value. In arriving at such value the price at which any property may actually have been sold either in the base year or the current taxable year, shall be considered but shall not be controlling. Instead such selling price, estimated or actual, shall be subject to revision by increase or decrease to accomplish equalization with other property within the taxing district.” 72 P.S. § 5020-402; and
Whereas, counties adjacent to Allegheny County have not conducted regular reassessments and have had a span of several decades between reassessments; and
Whereas, the County has conducted three reassessments in a span of seven years; and
Whereas, local experience with prior Countywide Reassessments has shown that many local taxing jurisdictions have failed to comply with the requirements of the Reassessment Windfall/105% Revenue Cap Law to reduce tax rates; and
Whereas, the Reassessment Windfall/105% Revenue Cap Law lacks an effective mechanism to enable citizens to force compliance with the requirement that local taxing bodies must reduce tax rates and limit property tax revenue increases stemming solely from a countywide reassessment; and
Whereas, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has failed to adopt adequate legal measures to p...
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