Allegheny County councilman pitches compromise property tax hike as time ticks down to pass budget

Allegheny County is in the middle of a property tax feud, and one County Council member hopes his proposal finds middle ground as time runs out to finalize a 2025 budget before the end of the year.

Last week, Councilman Dan Grzybek, D-Bethel Park, proposed an amendment that would fall between dueling proposals to raise property taxes, one by County Executive Sara Innamorato, the other by a contingent of council members.

“Most of this is right in the middle between the initial Innamorato budget and the 1.35 mills budget proposal,” Grzybek said Monday in an interview with TribLive.

Innamorato has proposed a $3.1 billion budget that includes a 2.2-mill property tax increase — a 46.5% hike — to cover a budget shortfall projected to reach $133 million next year. The budget deficit began under the previous administration.

That proposal received immediate pushback from several council members, who bristled at the size of the increase and called for austerity measures.

A group of council members responded by proposing to trim $70 million from Innamorato’s plan and instead raise property taxes by 1.35 mills, or 28.5%.

They included Council President Pat Catena, D-Carnegie, Suzanne Filiaggi, R-Wexford, Sam DeMarco, R-North Fayette, and John Palmiere, D-Baldwin.

Grzybek proposed a property tax rate of 1.66 mills and $29 million in cuts from Innamorato’s proposal. His proposal would amount to a 35% tax increase.

He sent his amendments to council members Nov. 27.

Innamorato’s proposed rate hike from 4.73 mills to 6.93 mills would increase annual property taxes by roughly $182 — or about $15 more a month — on a house assessed at the county’s median value of $110,400. Her plan includes a boost in the homestead exemption, which gives a property tax break to owner-occupied properties.

Council’s proposal would mean an annual increase of $135 — about $11.25 more a month — on the county’s median home value.

And Grzybek’s proposal would cost $153 more a year in property taxes, or $12.75 more a month.

Neither council’s nor Grzybeck’s proposals would raise the homestead exemption.

Filiaggi said last week the 1.35-mills proposal did not include any layoffs.

Grzybek disagreed.

He said he was motivated to make his proposal because he consulted with the county budget department and others to determine council’s 1.35-mills proposal would include some layoffs. He said he was not aware of this initially, since council didn’t make its proposal available until the night of the meeting last Tuesday.

”The number one thing that I want to propose is a budget that does not have layoffs, and that is what I am proposing,” Grzybek said.

He said a budget with an increase of 1.35 mills would lead to about 20 layoffs across the district attorney’s office, the solicitor’s office and the county’s election division.

It would also eliminate about 75 positions that are proposed to be filled, including five or six recruits for the Allegheny County Police Department and 12 proposed sheriff’s deputies.

Grzybek said his proposal would avoid any layoffs, but he added “necessary proposed positions” would still be on the chopping block.

Abigail Gardner, Innamorato’s spokesperson, agreed with Grzybek’s assessment of council’s competing proposal.

She would not comment on whether Innamorato supports Grzybek’s proposal overall.

Catena, the council president, pushed back against Grzybek’s assertion that layoffs would occur under that plan, which he noted still increases the budget.

“There were no cuts to personnel,” Catena said. “When every department is still getting a 3% increase compared to last year, how do you have layoffs?”

The biggest change from Grzybek’s proposal compared to that of his colleagues is their allocation to the county’s reserve fund.

Innamorato proposed allocating $33 million to help replenish the fund, which has been dwindling to help cover a growing budget deficit.

The 1.35-mills proposal would allocate only $5 million to help replenish the fund. Grzybek’s plan would put $20 million into it.

Grzybek said the 1.35 mills proposal would lead to a nearly depleted rainy day fund by 2027, raising the possibility taxes would need to be raised again, or large cuts would need to be made, within a couple of years.

“My budget proposal would at least give us another couple of years to make the changes and adjust the rainy day fund,” he said.

Grzybek’s plan also reestablishes $4 million in county spending for the Department of Human Services that is proposed to be cut under his colleagues’ plan.

He said this money should remain in the budget. If the county invests $4 million in the department, it gains access to more than $16 million in state funding for human services.

“You cannot beat a 400% match,” Grzybek said.

The three proposals will be discussed and voted on at Tuesday’s council meeting.

Catena said there still is time to bring up other plans, and it is possible council might see 11th-hour proposals.

The county must pass a budget by Wednesday.