Allegheny County Council passed a 36% property tax increase for next year — the first in more than a decade, but lower than what was initially proposed by Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato.

Council members supported the property tax increase by a 10-5 vote in a mostly peaceful meeting Tuesday evening in the Allegheny County Courthouse.

The vote occurred hours after Innamorato announced Tuesday morning that her office and council had struck a deal to raise property taxes by 1.7 mills to fund a $3.1 billion county budget and address a potential $133 million budget shortfall.

Allegheny County’s millage rate will increase to 6.43 mills, up from 4.73 mills.

This will tack on another $156 per year to a home assessed at the county’s median value of $110,400.

The plan that passed does not include a boost in the homestead exemption, which gives a property tax break to owner-occupied properties, as was proposed in Innamorato’s initial plan.

The compromise means no county employees will be laid off and the county’s public safety, public works and human services departments will be fully funded, according to Innamorato.

“The agreed-upon budget will begin to chip away at the fiscal challenges we inherited from the previous administration. In addition, it will avoid layoffs, fully fund critical services and programs that the people of Allegheny County rely on and puts the county in a stronger position to meet long-term obligations,” Innamorato said.

Funding the county’s human services was an important issue to Councilman Nick Futules, D-Oakmont.

“How can you say ‘no’ to senior citizens that need us? How can you say ‘no’ to children that need child care?” Futules said before the vote.

Councilman Dan Grzybek, D-Bethel Park, voted in favor of the 1.7-mill increase and said it was necessary to fully fund the District Attorney’s Office, the county solicitor, the Elections Division and other offices.

“The courts and legal system are suffering because they are overloaded, and this budget helps them,” Grzybek said.

Innamorato’s initial proposal of an increase of 2.2 mills attracted instant opposition from many council members.

One mill equals $1 of property tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.

Some council members countered last week with a plan to increase the tax rate by 1.35 mills, make cuts across several departments and shrink the county’s contribution to its reserve fund.

The new plan meets almost exactly in the middle of those proposals. The compromise plan trims $26 million from Innamorato’s initial plan.

Councilman David Bonaroti, D-Lawrenceville, voted against the compromise plan. He said the 1.7-mill compromise proves that the initial 2.2 mills proposal was not necessary.

“The world didn’t end,” Bonaroti said.

He said he still believes that 1.35 mills would work for Allegheny County, and he is concerned that Pittsburgh’s and Pittsburgh Public Schools’ financial situations will mean city residents will see even more tax increases.

“This would be the levee breaking,” he said.

Councilman at-large Sam DeMarco, R-North Fayette, said county workers and related service providers who advocated for the larger tax increases were played by the Innamorato administration.

He said that the Department of Human Services has averaged about a 3% annual increase over the past five years, and this year the department will see a 19% increase. He said such an increase is not necessary.

About three dozen people spoke at the meeting, and all but one was in favor of the 1.7-mill compromise plan. Most of the speakers in favor were county employees and people who work at county-funded service providers.

For the past three years, Allegheny County saw its budget deficit grow. It was filling the gaps with federal pandemic relief funding and pulling from the county’s reserve fund.

Those federal funds expire at the end of this year.

The compromise budget would allocate $23 million to the rainy day fund, which is a drop from $33 million in Innamorato’s initial proposal, but up from $5 million in the initial council counterproposal.

Allegheny County is not alone in facing tax hikes to cover revenue losses, rising inflation and expiring federal aid.

Westmoreland County raised its property tax rate by 32.5% last year.

Armstrong County officials have proposed a 33% tax increase for 2025, partly because of pandemic relief funds expiring.

Property taxes in Pennsylvania, unlike income taxes, are not automatically adjusted to inflation.

Allegheny County has faced additional financial headwinds that have shrunk its tax base. County sales tax revenue was down 8% through the first six months of this year, according to county Controller Corey O’Connor. Revenue from taxes on alcoholic beverages are down about 18%.

Increasing property tax refund payments have also hit Allegheny County, thanks to a large number of successful appeals on big commercial properties.

The 2025 property tax increase will be the first time Allegheny County has raised taxes since 2011.

Councilman Paul Klein, D-Shadyside, noted that other cities across the country have raised their taxes much higher than Allegheny County over the past 12 years. He said cities such as Indianapolis, Atlanta and Fort Worth, Texas, have seen tax increases above 50% across that time span.

Councilwoman at-large Bethany Hallam, D-North Side, criticized former County Executive Rich Fitzgerald for not being upfront with council over his tenure and setting them up for having to raise taxes after he left office.

“No one in this room is responsible for this mess. The current county executive isn’t responsible for this mess,” she said. “The Fitzgerald administration makes this so much harder than it needed to be. We can’t unfortunately undo the past. And now we can work toward the future.”

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