ALLEGHENY COUNTY LAWMAKERS AND OFFICIALS CALL FOR LIMITS TO REVENUE WINDFALLS FOLLOWING A COUNTYWIDE REASSESSMENT PITTSBURGH, January 17, 2002 - Allegheny County should abide by the intent of the 1998 state law that limits the potential revenue windfall following a countywide reassessment, a group of lawmakers and other public officials said today. "An 11 percent countywide windfall is more than double the amount allowed by the law we passed in 1998," state Sen. Jack Wagner said. "Were calling upon County Executive Jim Roddey to take the lead and abide by the law to bring the revenue increase into line with the state-mandated limitations." "Remember, the reassessment process is now an annual event," state Sen. Jay Costa Jr. said. "It is not intended to be an annual backdoor property tax increase for the county or its school districts and municipalities." Wagner said Roddey pledged, in his 1999 campaign for county executive, to lower taxes. "Raising taxes by 11 percent one year and reducing them by a few percentage points the next year is a shell game, and not the kind of tax cut that people in Allegheny County had in mind," Wagner said. Act 146 of 1998 specifically limits the total amount of property tax revenue received exclusively as a result of the reassessment or change in ratio not to exceed 105 percent of the total amount of property tax revenue received in the preceding year. State Sen. Sean Logan, D-Allegheny/Westmoreland, who was unable to attend todays event, sent his support for the efforts of his colleagues. "The property tax system is fundamentally flawed," said Logan, who recently wrote to the governor requesting a special session of the legislature to address the issue. ###
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