Council proposes new rental inspection charges
On the heels of an Allegheny County judge deeming its proposed rental registration fee “excessive” and an “impermissible tax,” Pittsburgh City Council is gearing up to charge landlords a fee that members deemed fair and necessary to ensure properties are safe for renters.
The new fee was determined by analyzing the cost it takes for the city to process applications and inspect units and would cost landlords $16 for application intake, $5.50 covering the cost of travel and $14 per unit for inspection, said Sarah Kinter, acting director of the Department of Permit, Licenses, and Inspections.
City Council opted to recommend the bill — authorizing the annual fees and striking the fees that were rejected by the court — on Wednesday, setting up a final vote in the coming weeks.
The council had originally set the permit fee at $65 per unit for buildings that house 10 or fewer units, $55 per unit for those that house between 11 and 100, and $45 per unit for those that house more than 100.
The amended bill notes that the court restrained the city from enforcing the ordinance until it provides for a “fee that is fair, reasonable and not grossly disproportionate to the cost of maintaining the program.”
Councilwoman Erika Strassburger said she supports the fee — that the cost of maintaining the program can’t be put on the backs of taxpayers — and that the amount sounds “incredibly fair” and “really minimal.”
“A minimal fee to ensure that if your properties are in great working order and incredibly safe for residents — this should not affect you,” Ms. Strassburger said. “For those who have neglected their properties to such an extent they will have to make major reservations, maybe they need to get out of the business of owning rental properties in the city of Pittsburgh.”
City officials had originally proposed the ordinance in an effort to hold absentee landlords accountable. It quickly came under fire from landlord groups who argued the law and its associated fees would constitute an
“illegal revenue-generating tax” on rental property owners, according to court filings.
The court ruled that the fee was excessive and set the table for council to return to its bill to hammer out a new fee structure.
After the ruling, the city’s permit and licenses department worked with officials who helped create the fee schedule to revisit the proposed costs — and looked separately at the average cost to process the application and have inspectors travel and perform inspections, Ms. Kinter said.
There are incentives for landlords whose units pass inspection, including fee decreases, Ms. Kinter added.
Councilman Bruce Kraus said the passage and implementation of the rental registry is “absolutely imperative to quality of life and safe living conditions” in his district.
He added that he wouldn’t be opposed to waiving the fees entirely, citing his fear that it could return to court and delay the process further. The city could then operate the program for a year and prove a cost burden, which has a better chance at standing up in court, he said.
Also on Wednesday, council opted to delay action on a bill that would eliminate a decades- old cost-cutting measure that reduces pensions paid to nonunion city employees by half the amount of Social Security payments they receive. The move would impact about 400 employees. A hearing on the bill hasn’t yet been scheduled.