Pittsburgh City Council to discuss new tax

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An attorney I have worked with a few times emailed this to me. Does anyone in Pittsburgh / Allegheny County know anything about this? I am sorry it is so long:

"I am writing to you because I believe you own some residential apartments, possibly in the City of Pittsburgh. But even if you only own property outside of Pittsburgh, you should still read this email very carefully.

I am asking you to appear at Pittsburgh City Council on this coming Monday, December 1 to protect your own interests. Because if you do not, you very well may end up paying an additional $65 per rental unit per year in taxes!

How could this be?

The Pittsburgh City Council intends on passing an ordinance whereby every rental property owner must "register" their rental properties EVERY YEAR. The proposed Registration Fee is $65 per UNIT (not address) per year. If you have a building with 6 units in it, you will pay $65 x 6 units = $390 extra every year... for no discernible benefit to you or your tenants!

The excuse for this ordinance and "fee" is so the City will have a quick/easy way to contact a property owner should his property become a "Nuisance Property." The actual reason is more likely the large hole in the City's 2015 Operating Budget. Rather than call a tax on rental property a tax, or raise property taxes a scant amount for everyone so that everyone can participate in "closing the hole", the City is choosing to place a special burden on a select group of people: YOU! You, and other small business owners like you who own property in the City.

There are a few questions/problems regarding the ordinance that immediately come to mind:

- If the objective is to have accurate owner contact information for every piece of property in the city, rather than charging fees just for the sake of collecting them, why would it be necessary for the property owner to provide his same contact information three times and pay a $65 registration fee three times for the same triplex? Or ten times for the same 10-unit apartment building? Or 100 times for the same 100-unit building? Obviously, it is the duplicated fees that the City finds so desirable.

- Owners of Pittsburgh rental properties who do not live in Allegheny County will not be allowed to manage their own properties. They will be REQUIRED to HIRE a property manager who MUST be a licensed real estate agent and whose business MUST be located in Allegheny County.

- We already have contact information for property owners listed in the property records. That is how you get your property tax bill mailed to you every year. This system is already in place, and does not cost extra, especially not $65/year!

- In Pennsylvania, a "fee" cannot be more than what it costs the taxing body to administer the service for which the fee covers. In this case, the City would have us believe it costs them $65 per year to contact the owner of a single family rental property. And for some reason it costs them 10 times as much, $650 per year, to contact the owner of a 10-unit rental property.

Now, you may wonder, if I only own property outside of the City, then I will not be affected, correct? Wrong! If other cash-hungry municipalities see the City of Pittsburgh successfully implement this hidden tax scheme, they will likely copy and adopt the City's ordinance.

There are additional provisions of the ordinance which are also problematic:

- The City has exempted certain large, commercial property owners from filing and paying the yearly fees. The City obviously feels that these entities have the financial and legal muscle (like UPMC) to fight the City, so the City is now picking on YOU: individuals and small businesses instead.

- You will be forced to reveal to the public sensitive personal information, including your HOME address, your PERSONAL CELL PHONE number, and your PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS.

- If you forget to register or re-register every year, you will be CRIMINALLY CHARGED and fined $500 PER MONTH for non-registration.

- Inspectors now have another excuse to go into your properties to look for problems.

A Public Hearing on the ordinance has been (hastily) scheduled for Monday, December 1st. Mayor Peduto plans to move forward with the ordinance if there is not a "large and vocal opposition" to it. Its therefore imperative for all who do oppose to show up at the hearing: Either to speak and therefore demonstrate "vocal opposition". Even if you are uncomfortable making public statements, your mere presence in the audience will be needed to demonstrate that opposition is indeed "very large".

You DO NOT need to live in the City to either attend or to speak. You SHOULD forward this email to anyone who is opposed this hidden tax scheme. And if any of you have tenants of your own, you SHOULD encourage them to come as well to speak AGAINST this hidden tax. As we all know, sooner or later these fees will wind up being passed along to the tenants in the form of rent increases.

I have attached the proposed ordinance, 2014-1020, to this email for your reference.

PLEASE ATTEND!

WHEN: Monday, Dec 1st, 6PM

WHERE: City Council Chambers, 5th Floor of City-County Building, 414 Grant Street, Downtown Pgh

TO SPEAK: Anyone who wishes to speak will be allowed 1 minute. No registration needed.

TO SPEAK FOR 3 MINUTES: You must register in advance in order to be allowed 3 minutes to speak.

Register by calling the City Clerk Office at 412-225-2138 before Noon on Monday, Dec 1st."