Allegheny County Council member Dan Grzybek will introduce a compromise tax-hike proposal Tuesday — one meant to bridge the gap between County Executive Sara Innamorato’s spending plan and a budget with a smaller hike put forward by council.
Grzybek’s plan would raise the county millage rate to about 6.39 mills — 1.66 mills more than residents currently pay, or a 35% increase. It would represent an increase over a 1.35 mill proposal introduced by John Palmierie and other council members last week, but is still less than the 2.2 mill increase Innamorato says is necessary to fully fund county services.
“I tried to meet in the middle between the 1.35 budget and the county executive’s 2.2 mill budget,” which is “just not going to get the ten votes necessary to pass,” Grzybek said.
There was “a lot of confusion” about Palmierie’s proposal, Grzybek said, and a tight timeline left little time for members to discuss the plan or for county budget experts to weigh in. He floated his plan to council members last Wednesday, after consulting with county budget experts.
Supporters of Palmieri's proposal contended that a 1.35 mill increase would avert layoffs and service cuts. But “It was pretty immediately clear to me that [the claim] was not going to be true” after rising personnel costs were factored in, Grzybek said.
When those costs — which include cost-of-living increases and — were calculated, Grzybek estimated Palmierie’s plan would require officials to dismiss 20 county employees and cut 75 currently vacant positions.
Those numbers represent just a small fraction of the county’s more than 6,000 employees. But Grzybek said those jobs should be preserved to maintain county functions.
“I tried to make sure that we were cutting the millage as low as humanly possible to make sure that we were limiting the cost on taxpayers … while making sure that we were fully providing the services that the county has been providing,” Grzybek said.
Grzybek’s plan would give $4 million to the county’s Department of Human Services, allowing officials to take advantage of state and federal funding matches that will bring in another $16 million for the department.
It would also restore funding to the Allegheny County Police Department and sheriff’s office — spending cut under the 1.35 mill plan — to bring the departments back in line with Innamorato’s initial proposal. Grzybek said the change will allow county police to hire five officers currently in training and keep 12 sheriff’s deputy positions open.
Grzybek’s plan still represents nearly $30 million in spending reductions from Innamorato’s proposal. Much of that reduction comes from scaling back plans to replenish the county’s “rainy day” fund, which the county has drawn on to make up for deficits in recent years. Innamorato’s budget calls for $33 million to be paid back into it; Palmierie’s plan would use just $5 million for that purpose, while Grzybek’s plan suggests $20 million.
Grzybek’s proposal, like Palmierie’s, would also keep the homestead exemption at $18,000. Innamorato had proposed a more generous exemption that would leave the first $21,000 of a home’s assessed value untaxed. The homestead exemption has not changed since 2013.
Under Grzybek’s plan, the owner of a home assessed at the county’s median value, $110,400, would pay about $590 in property taxes each year, or roughly $12.75 more each month than they currently pay.
Under Palmierie’s proposal, the same homeowner would pay about $10 more each month, and under Innamorato’s plan, they would pay about $15 more each month after taking the increased homestead exemption.
“For what is a relatively limited cost, I do believe that we're getting a good amount out of” a proposed 1.66 mill increase, Grzybek said.
Innamorato administration officials said they agree in principle with Grzybek’s proposal, and added that his proposed millage rate is closer to where they believe the county will end up.
But it’s not yet clear if Grzybek’s proposal has the two-thirds supermajority of support required by the Home Rule Charter to approve any change to real estate tax rates, either.
Officials indicated other proposals could be introduced before Tuesday’s vote.
Council is slated to discuss all three proposals at their Dec. 3 meeting.
County law requires annual operating and capital budgets for the next calendar year to be adopted no later than Dec. 6.
