PITTSBURGH, July 16, 2024 – State Senator Katie Muth (D-Chester/Montgomery/Berks), chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee, joined Senator Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny) in Pittsburgh yesterday to co-chair a public hearing to outline Pennsylvania’s property reassessment system.
“Yesterday’s hearing highlighted the numerous problems caused by the lack of a statewide property reassessment system in Pennsylvania, as well as some potential legislative solutions that would require regular, cyclical reassessments, which could help ease the property tax burden for many Pennsylvania families,” Muth said.
The hearing, held at the Allegheny County Courthouse in downtown Pittsburgh, featured two panels of testimony that highlighted problems with Pennsylvania’s property reassessment system and included a discussion of the impact of reassessments on municipalities, school districts and properties. Pennsylvania is the only state that does not require periodic updates in property tax administration, and counties can go decades without updating values.
“Property taxes are a vital and critical source of revenue for more than 2,500 municipalities and 500 school districts in Pennsylvania. Yet the Commonwealth remains the only state in the nation that allows counties to decide when to conduct a full reassessment of property values, unless a court intervenes,” Fontana said. “What we heard yesterday was compelling evidence that Pennsylvania’s lack of uniform scheduled reassessments is rife with inequities and is costing us. It’s time for the Legislature to find a solution.”
Pennsylvania does not have a uniform property valuation system, so the processes vary greatly from county to county; and within each county, assessment values vary from municipality to municipality. According to statistics, 50 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties have not conducted a reassessment in the past 15 years, the last being in Allegheny County in 2012.
“It was an honor to participate in yesterday’s urgent discussion on property reassessment and how we move forward in this space. I am especially grateful that we were able to discuss my LOOP legislation, which will soon have an impact on protecting long-term owner-occupiers in Pittsburgh from exorbitant property taxes that have recently skyrocketed,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny). “I am very proud of all the leaders and advocates who shared their expertise, and I look forward to continuing this conversation as we move forward.”
Senator Costa’s Bill No. 219which was signed into law as House Bill 53 of 2024 by the governor last week, created the Longtime Owner Occupant Tax Exemption Program (LOOP), which will protect homeowners living in areas with rapidly rising property values that augment property taxes. The bill would allow the Pittsburgh mayor and city council to exempt or defer property tax increases for people who have lived in homes they own for a specified period of time in certain neighborhoods where property values have increased dramatically.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to hear from experts and advocates about the profound impact that Pennsylvania’s unfair property tax reassessment system has on residents and our public institutions. Without regularly scheduled reassessments like those in the rest of the country, our local governments and school districts are stuck in a system that unfairly taxes residents and families,” added Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny). “We can’t appeal this to get justice, so I look forward to working with Senator Fontana to find a solution that benefits all Pennsylvanians.”
Participants in the hearing included Dr. Melissa Friez, superintendent of the Mt. Lebanon School District; Ira Weiss, general counsel for the Pittsburgh Public Schools; Mike Suley, member of the Allegheny County Board of Property Reassessment Appeals; Rachael Heisler, Pittsburgh City Controller; Sharon DiPaolo, partner at Siegel Jennings Co.; John Petrack, executive vice president of the Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh; and David Vatz, Pro Housing Pittsburgh.
Senator Tim Kearney (Delaware Democrat) also participated in the virtual hearing.
For more information about this policy hearing, as well as access to all of the testimony and the full recording of yesterday’s hearing, please visit www.SenatorMuth.com/policy.
