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An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending the Allegheny County Code of Ordinances, Article 210 of Division 1, entitled "Assessment Standards and Practices," in order to expressly provide for tax exempt entities that enter into payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements with the County, and to establish a publicly searchable database of County reviews of the status of all properties qualifying for exemption from property taxation under the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act.
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WHEREAS, the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act, 10 P.S. §371 et. seq., establishes guidelines and procedures for determining whether a charitable entity is eligible for exemption from property taxation; and
WHEREAS, the Act also expressly permits taxing bodies which maintain real property assessment rolls - as Allegheny County does - to determine the percentage of a given parcel that is used for an entity's charitable purpose, as defined by the Act, and to tax the remainder of the parcel; and
WHEREAS, the Administrative Code of Allegheny County provides for an initial and subsequent determinations of tax-exempt status to be made by the Chief Assessment Officer, but does not require a review of these determinations within any established timeframe; and
WHEREAS, on November 27, 2007, ordinance 49-07-OR (providing for such parcel reviews of all properties receiving exemptions under the terms of the Act at least once every three years) was enacted; and
WHEREAS, since the enactment of ordinance 49-07-OR, it has become apparent that entities that are tax-exempt under the terms of the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act may opt to enter voluntary payment in lieu of tax (PILOT) agreements with the County, as authorized by the Act, 10 P.S. §377; and
WHEREAS, it is the judgment of Council that subjecting those entities that choose to voluntarily enter such agreements with the County to subsequent parcel review is inequitable, insofar as those entities and the County will already have negotiated, agreed upon, and executed contracts for appropriate payments to the County instead of property tax payments; and
WHEREAS, ordinance 49-07-OR did not contain language expressly providing for the treatment of entities that are eligible for full or partial exemption from real property taxation under the terms of the IPPCA, but that have entered into PILOT agreements with the County; and
WHEREAS, it is therefore the desire of Council to create a structure for parcel reviews that recognizes those tax-exempt entities that elect to enter voluntary PILOT agreements with the County; and
WHEREAS, it is further the desire of Council to establish a method by which the public may be apprised of the results of the required parcel reviews;
The Council of the County of Allegheny hereby enacts as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Allegheny County Code of Ordinances, Article 210 of Division 1, entitled "Assessment Standards and Practices," §5-210.12 is hereby amended and supplemented as follows:
§5-210.12. Determination of tax-exempt status.
A. Based upon a review of the application for the grant or removal of tax-exempt status and such other materials and information submitted by the legal or equitable owner or by the taxing body or bodies and after such consultation with legal counsel as deemed necessary and prudent, the Chief Assessment Officer shall make a determination concerning whether the property qualifies or continues to qualify for property-tax exempt status. The staff of the Office of Property Assessments shall provide written notice of the determination of the property's tax-exempt status to the legal or equitable owner of the property and to all taxing bodies within which the property is located.
B. All properties granted tax-exempt status by the Chief Assessment Officer under the provisions of the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act, 10 P.S. §371 et. seq., and not having an in-force agreement with Allegheny County for payments or services in lieu of County taxes as of the date upon which notice of any parcel review is mailed under the terms of Subsections 1 and 2 of this Section, shall be subjected to a parcel review by the Chief Assessment Officer in accordance with the provisions of 10 P.S. §375(h). Such parcel review shall be completed no later than December 31, 2027, with additional parcel reviews to be completed at least once every three years thereafter. In the course of the periodic parcel review required by this Section, the Chief Assessment Officer shall determine whether each property or any portion thereof continues to qualify for tax-exempt status, shall immediately revise the assessment rolls of Allegheny County to reflect any parcel or portion thereof that no longer qualifies for tax-exempt status as a result of this determination, and shall immediately communicate this change to the Allegheny County Treasurer. The Chief Assessment Officer shall also forward written notice of this determination to the legal or equitable owner of the property and to all taxing bodies within which the property is located. Determinations made by the Chief Assessment Officer pursuant to the periodic parcel review required by this Section shall be subject to the appeal provisions of §5-210.13.
1. Notice of all parcel reviews required under the terms of this Section shall be mailed by the Chief Assessment Officer to all affected tax-exempt property owners no later than February 1 of the year in which the review is to be conducted.
2. The notice required under the terms of this Section shall clearly describe the parcel review process and the statutory basis for such review, and shall conspicuously note that parcel reviews will only be conducted for those tax-exempt entities that do not have an in-force agreement with Allegheny County for payments or services in lieu of County taxes as of the date on which the notice is mailed.
C. In the event that any entity qualifying for exemption from County real estate taxes under the terms of the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act purchases or otherwise takes ownership of additional real property and does not execute an agreement with the County for payments or services in lieu of County property taxes on the new parcel(s) within 120 days of assuming ownership, the Chief Assessment Officer shall immediately review the newly acquired parcel(s) in accordance with the provisions set forth in Subsection B.
D. No later than December 31, 2027, the County Manager, in cooperation with the Department of Information Technology and Office of Property Assessments, shall post a database of all parcel reviews conducted under the terms of Subsection B in a conspicuous location on the County’s website. Such database shall:
1. Be available to the public at no cost;
2. Be searchable by property owner name, property address, and lot and block number;
3. Include listings of every parcel receiving a partial or complete exemption from taxation under the terms of the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act
4. Clearly delineate the date on which each review of the tax exempt status of each parcel was conducted and the methodology employed during each such review;
5. Clearly delineate the results of each review of the tax exempt status of each parcel was conducted;
6. Contain a summary of the terms of any PILOT agreement(s) in place between the parcel owner(s) and Allegheny County;
7. Disclose the date of the next scheduled review for each parcel;
8. Clearly delineate the assessed value of each parcel, the amount of County property taxes paid on each parcel for each of the last five (5) years, and the amount of County property taxes that would have been paid in each of those years had the property not received any exemption under the terms of the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act; and
9. Be updated within ten (10) business days of each review conducted under the terms of Subsection B.
E. The provisions of Subsection D shall be deemed met in the event that all of the required information and search utility is provided free of charge via the County’s existing online real estate database.
SECTION 2. Severability.
If any provision of this Ordinance shall be determined to be unlawful, invalid, void or unenforceable, then that provision shall be considered severable from the remaining provisions of this Ordinance which shall be in full force and effect.
SECTION 3. Repealer.
Any Resolution or Ordinance or part thereof conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance is hereby repealed so far as the same affects this Ordinance.