The now-empty Century III Mall in West Mifflin. (Photo by Benjamin Brady/PublicSource)
Whether it’s vacant lots or cavernous malls, real estate trends and base-year assessments have left dozens of Allegheny County municipalities with tough choices on taxes and services.
by Rich Lord, PublicSource
Raising taxes is “never an easy decision,” notes Brian Kamauf. As manager of a borough whose tax base used to be anchored by a now-dead mall, it’s a decision he has learned to defend.
Since Kamauf was hired to manage West Mifflin in 2010, he has seen the borough’s Century III Mall close. The mall’s main parcel was valued by the county at $58 million a decade ago, but following an appeal and a court case, is now assessed at $2 million. Assessments on scores of other commercial properties have followed the mall’s in a downward swoop. Overall, the borough’s property tax base has dropped by 20% since 2014.
With the cost of everything creeping up, the borough council raised property taxes by 0.6 mills this year, to 9.98 mills. That resulted in some challenging interactions with homeowners.
Kamauf recounted his response to a complaint about a $900-a-year borough property tax bill. “I said, ‘What’s your Comcast bill for internet?’” The answer: $200 a month. “I said, ‘So you’re paying $200 a month to watch Judge Judy. I’m giving you 24-hour EMS, police, fire.’”
It’s an argument he might not have to make if Allegheny County’s property tax system were not largely disconnected from actual property values.
Since 2014, home sale prices in West Mifflin have risen more than 35%, in inflation-adjusted dollars, according to data provided by the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center. Taxes on homes that haven’t been sold, though, are largely frozen at values set in 2012 due to County Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s decision to use a base year for taxation.
All property owners have the right to appeal their assessments, and commercial properties like malls have the incentive and wherewithal to litigate and push their tax bills downward.
Fitzgerald, through his spokesperson, declined to be interviewed on assessments.
Because property taxes make up half of West Mifflin’s budget, the borough faces unpalatable choices.
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