Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Detailed budgets for the 2013-14 school year are being worked on now.
The Upper St. Clair School Board unanimously adopted Monday night a resolution not to go above the Act 1 tax index for the 2013-14 school year. The Act 1 index for the next budget is .437 mills—or an increase of 1.7 percent. The adopted resolution means the board will not request for any tax exemptions from the state this year. When the board approved a tax hike last year, they agreed they would not raise taxes for the 2013-14 school year. A final decision will be made this summer.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Pennsylvania lawmakers tabled the Property Tax Independence Act on Monday.
- OPINION
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Thursday, June 14, 2012
To the Editor: It has often been said of the Palestinians vis-a-vis negotiations with Israel that they "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." The same failure is accurately noted in the actions (and inactions) of the ridiculous and special interest beholden Pennsylvania General Assembly, which has failed us once again. The body was presented with a marvelous, historic initiative by Republican State Representative Jim Cox of Berks County through his Property Tax Independence Act, which would have loosened the noose of rising and ruinous school property taxes from the necks of beleaguered homeowners through increasing the state income tax and sales tax, and extending the sales tax to unhealthful foods and non-necessities …
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Revenue would be made up by higher income and sales taxes.
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
As school districts across the state consider raising taxes, including Upper St. Clair, to offset cutbacks in funding from Harrisburg, a state lawmaker thinks the time has come to eliminate property taxes as a way of financing public schools, and raise the personal income and sales taxes to make up the difference. The House Finance Committee took up House Bill 1776 Monday. Sponsored by Rep. Jim Cox, R-Berks, the measure would hike the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent statewide and raise the personal income tax rate from 3.07 percent to 4 percent. In Allegheny County, the sales tax would rise to 8 percent. In addition, many goods and services currently exempt from the sales tax would be taxable under the bill, which aims to raise $10…
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Notices will soon arrive by mail.
Upper St. Clair property owners will receive word of their new Allegheny County-assessed property values by mail soon. But for those who don't want to wait, the numbers can be viewed online right away. Here is that resource: http://www2.alleghenycounty.us/reval/. So, what do the new numbers mean for you? For 2012 taxes: nothing. But the new values will be used in 2013 to determine the cost of your property taxes. In the meantime, property owners in Upper St. Clair can appeal their new assessments. Informal challenges will be accepted until March 7, 2012, and April 2, 2012, is the cutoff for formal appeals. An informal review/challenge is a one-on-one meeting between a property owner and a representative of the county Office of Property …
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald said Thursday that 2012 assessments will remain at 2002 levels.
Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald said it over and over again during a news conference Thursday afternoon: When it comes to property tax reassessment, Allegheny County shouldn’t be singled out. That’s one reason Fitzgerald said he directed the certification of the 2011 assessed values for 2012 taxation purposes—values that are based on the 2002 tax year. For county property owners, that means the assessment numbers they received in the mail last week are “null and void.” New notices would be sent out Thursday, Fitzgerald said, and those are “the ones that matter.” And he was clear: Despite a court order mandated a property tax reassessment, he is following all state laws. “Earlier this week, I took an oath to uphold the laws of the …
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
After defeating Republican D. Raja in Tuesday's election, the former Democratic county council president looks ahead to priorities once in office.
Mass transit, Marcellus Shale, property taxes, the airport, and the county budget will all be on Democrat Rich Fitzgerald’s radar when he takes over as Allegheny County executive in January. Fitzgerald, 52, of Squirrel Hill, defeated Republican D. Raja, 46, of Mt. Lebanon by a nearly 2-1 margin in Tuesday’s general election. Fitzgerald celebrated the win with hundreds of supporters at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers hall on Pittsburgh’s South Side. Many wore green T-shirts with the words, “Welcome to Fitzburgh” on the front. Afterwards, he talked to Patch about his first priorities when taking office. “We’ve got a lot of challenges, transit, stopping the reassessment of our county only, being able to utilize Marcellus …
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Upper St. Clair School District is planning to file for an Act 1 exception. If granted, the district could raise taxes higher than the property tax cap.
The preliminary 2012-13 budget for the Upper St. Clair School District shows a $2.7 million shortfall. Superintendent Patrick O'Toole shared the numbers in a presentation with the school board on Monday night. He called the outlook "sobering." Under Pennsylvania's Act 1 of 2006, school boards are limited in how high they can raise real estate taxes. Dr. O'Toole said next year, Act 1 will allow the school board to raise taxes by 1.7 percent or .41 mils. If the school board chooses to raise taxes, the amount raised would be $670,000—not enough to cover the $2.7 million shortfall. A new law passed this summer allows Pennsylvania school districts to apply for an Act 1 exception if the districts can show they need to raise taxes because of …
Judy
10:56 am on Thursday, January 31, 2013
To Daniel Bosch, I am totally aware of the pension mess that our legislature created. However, our school board also created a fiscal mess when for years they freely and continuously raised taxes for any and everything they wanted. And Oren is correct - last year's outrageous increase was to provide a surplus so they wouldn't "have" to raise taxes this year. Where is that surplus now? Yes, I … more ›