Leetsdale Citizens To Save Money on Property Tax

Select residents of may be able to keep a little more cash in their wallet next year thanks to a motion to raise the Allegheny County Act 50 exclusion amount.

The council unanimously approved the motion at itsr Thursday night meeting; the exemption will increase from $25,000 to $30,000.

The homestead exemption is meant to provide homeowners with some financial relief on their property taxes. To be eligible a resident must live in a permanent home within the taxing jurisdiction of the borough.

“Homestead exemption for a resident says that for the first $25,000 of your home’s assessed value; you don’t have to pay any tax, provided you meet the homestead exemption rules,” said Council President Roger Nanni.

With the new limit, eligible homeowners can take $30,000 off the value of their home when calculating what they owe on taxes.

Nanni said the average home in Leetsdale is assessed at about $50,000, which means at 10 mills, they were paying $250 in taxes each year.

"That will go down to $200 a year," Nanni said. "For the residents, that’s a good thing. It doesn’t apply to the businesses, which is 85 percent of our revenue anyway. It’s a benefit for the citizens.”

To enroll for these exclusions, homeowners must submit an application to the Allegheny County Office of Property Assessments. The assessment office then calculates the median value of the properties that have applied and alerts local officials, who cannot set the exclusion at a rate of more than half the median .

“It helps property owners lower their tax rate down, so you don’t have to pay as much if you’re a senior citizen,” said Leetsdale citizen Barbara Baran-Span, who supported the change. “It’s a couple dollars, that’s all it really boils down to, but for seniors it’s a great help because they’re on a limited budget. It will help a lot. It’s a little bone to be thrown, but we’ll take anything we can get at this point.”

In addition, the borough council approved the hiring of a . Though the man has not been able to be reached to accept the job offer, he has a mechanical background, which Nanni said will help with taking care of some of the lighter maintenance duties with equipment. 

Also at the meeting, it was announced that there is a new vacancy on the Recreation Board. Citizens have the opportunity to submit a letter of interest to the borough to be considered for the job. Baran-Span was the sole community member at the meeting who showed interest in obtaining the position.

“I’ve been waiting to get on it because I love doing children’s parties and stuff like that,” she said. “I always sent down cupcakes anyway, but this time I can actually participate.”