A tinkerer's tale: The tax break that wasn't
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About this time last year, city Councilman Patrick Dowd wanted to make it easier for senior citizens to keep a property tax break.
That resulted this year in John and Mary Ganter paying $311.37 more in property taxes on the Banksville home they've owned for 44 years.
And this reminds us of an old lesson. When political jujitsu is practiced on Grant Street, the bruises are felt in the neighborhoods.
A year ago, Mr. Dowd, in the midst of a longshot bid to defeat Mayor Luke Ravenstahl in the Democratic primary, proposed simplifying a tax break for seniors.
Instead of making seniors with household incomes under $30,000 reapply each year for Act 77 tax relief, Mr. Dowd suggested that the renewal be automatic.
That made sense. A fixed income is just that -- it isn't likely to soar. But Mr. Dowd wasn't the most popular guy on council, and some colleagues weren't eager to give him a talking point for his mayoral campaign.
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There were also legitimate questions. Councilman Ricky Burgess said Mr. Dowd's proposal would cost the city $1.2 million, based on a Finance Department estimate that 4,000 more seniors would get about $300 off their tax bills if the break became automatic.
Mr. Burgess suggested no tax cuts unless they were offset by spending cuts elsewhere. The reform was delayed until after the May primary (in which Mayor Ravenstahl beat Mr. Dowd, his closest challenger, by 31 percentage points).
Council would not approve the automatic extension for seniors until last September. Along with that, council approved a change to bring uniformity to this tax break. Now everyone was assessed in the same way.
That was the net that snared the Ganters' three-bedroom home in Banksville.
Property tax assessment in Pennsylvania is no fairer than a carnival game. Every home-owner knows that. There is no uniformity, and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato has fought in court to keep it that way, pleasing all those who have happened to land on a decent number.
First Published March 7, 2010 12:00 am
