Freeze property taxes for low-income
Allegheny County can easily afford to help seniors stay in their homes
Senior citizens living on a fixed income – modest pension, Social Security – will tell you that one of their principal concerns is losing their homes because of rising property taxes. This is the most egregious feature of Allegheny County’s property tax system.
It is time to solve this problem, and the solution is relatively simple: Freeze the property tax for citizens who have been property owners in the county for 10 or more years (not necessarily owning the same property), have a total annual income of no more than $30,000 and are age 60 or older.
Consider: Seniors with no more than $30,000 in annual income do not live in expensive homes and, therefore, their taxes are not that high. A freeze would mean they would continue to pay the current amount in taxes but not any incremental increases. When seniors would leave or sell their homes, the taxes would revert to an amount that includes all the increases since the freeze was imposed unless the new owner has the same status as the departing owner.
The distribution of proceeds from county property tax collections is roughly 15 percent to the municipality, 15 percent to the county and 70 percent to the local school district. Lost revenue due to a senior tax freeze would be insignificant to the municipality and county. The small reduction incurred by the school district could be restored easily by spreading the amount of loss over the remaining tax base or raising the millage by an undetectable fraction.
This proposed freeze could be structured so that it would not violate the clause of the Pennsylvania tax code that requires tax rates to be applied uniformly, and compliance by school districts could best be ensured by requiring the adoption of a senior freeze as a condition of continued state financial support.
We owe this change to our low-income seniors who have raised their children, paid their taxes and lived for many years in their homes. They deserve to live their later years in dignity and without fear of becoming homeless or being a burden to their families.
Jim Roddey was Allegheny County’s first county executive.