A Resolution of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly to enact a with all deliberate speed an act authorizing the governing bodies of counties of the second class to provide by ordinance for the implementation of tax provisions to allow for a property tax freeze for qualifying senior citizens.
WHEREAS, Allegheny County, a county of the second class, has a large senior citizen population who are living on fixed incomes and who have voiced extreme concern regarding their ability to meet the tax increases created by the recent court-ordered reassessment; and
WHEREAS, the Allegheny County property tax reassessment has caused many of these seniors to see a dramatic increase in their property taxes while their current levels of income often leave them without the resources to cover this sudden increase and place them in jeopardy of losing their homes; and
WHEREAS, Council seeks to protect the general welfare of its aging population with the ability to enact legislation to allow for forgiveness of real property tax liability of certain low-income senior citizens attributable to fluctuating tax rate increases brought on by property reassessments; and
WHEREAS, section 2(b)(ii) of Article VIII of the Constitution of Pennsylvania allows for such relief but only if it is granted to the County by act of the General Assembly; and
WHEREAS, the Pennsylvania Constitution, Article VIII, §2(b)(ii) empowers the General Assembly to establish a class of subjects of taxation based on age or poverty which are determined to be in need of tax exemption or of special tax provisions, and for any such class, grant exemptions, or make special tax provisions; and
WHEREAS, based on this constitutional provision, the General Assembly opted to grant the City of Philadelphia the authority to enact a Senior Tax Freeze, see 72 P.S. §§ 4751-21 and 4751-22; and
WHEREAS, many seniors in Allegheny County living on the edge of poverty do not...
Click here for full text