Capping property taxes for longtime residents and progress in public safety and housing

This Week's Top Agenda Items

• New legislation will take some of the bite out of rising taxes
• Snow clearing, housing and public safety highlight county executive report
• Hallam reports there are fewer people sleeping outdoors than last year

New legislation will take some of the bite out of rising taxes

Longtime Allegheny County residents who could be hurt by rising property taxes will now have a cap on the pain.

Council passed legislation at its Feb. 10 meeting to create a Longtime Owner Occupant Tax Exemption Program (LOOP).

Under LOOP, eligible homeowners will continue to pay property taxes, but the taxes will be capped at a 35% increase. The program aims to protect low-income residents in redeveloping areas from being taxed out of homeownership as market values rise.

"This program would protect folks who are most vulnerable to the increases: seniors on fixed incomes who have lived in their community for 30 or 40 years," said Council Member Dan Grzybek of Bethel Park.

The last county-wide property reassessment was in 2013. There is not a new one currently scheduled.

To be eligible, homeowners must have occupied their property for at least 10 years and earn at or below 125% of area median income (AMI) for their household size, which would be $107,375 for a couple or $131,625 for a family of four.

Council Member DeWitt Walton of the Hill District objected to the 125% AMI threshold, arguing it should be higher to accommodate residents facing rising utility costs and other economic pressures.

State legislation permitting LOOP passed in 2024. The city of Pittsburgh passed its own LOOP last year even though it would be dependent on the county's reassessments.

Snow clearing, housing and public safety highlight county executive report

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato delivered her quarterly address to council on Feb. 10, detailing initiatives from 2025 and looking ahead into plans for this year.

She highlighted the Department of Public Works's response to the Jan. 28 snowstorm which was the largest in 15 years. The department cleared 357 miles of roads and provided salt to 18 municipalities that had run out of their own.

Innamorato reported progress on public safety and housing last year. She said the number of homicides dropped to the lowest level since electronic record-keeping began in 2007. She credited the change to the violence interruption teams funded through the Department of Human Services. "The data shows how important it is to find community-based solutions and really engage the community when it comes to stopping patterns of violence," she said.

The 500 in 500 housing initiative, a cornerstone project for Innamorato, came to a close. It ultimately housed 622 people. The 1st Home Allegheny program helped 56 first-time buyers purchase homes across 34 municipalities.

As part of a Feb. 5 executive order, Innamorato introduced a Housing Investment Fund. Her goal is to set aside $50–$100 million of public and private money for affordable housing production and rehabilitation. The effort is supported by $3 million in recent federal funding.

In the address, she also reaffirmed the county's stance against coordinating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and pledged legal support for affected families through the public defender's office.

Nearly 100 people signed up for the meeting's public comment to voice their opinions on the stance and upcoming legislation.

Hallam reports there are fewer people sleeping outdoors than last year

After spending the night of Feb. 3 helping with the census of unhoused residents of Allegheny County, Allegheny County Council Member Bethany Hallam of Ross said there are fewer people living outdoors than there were last year.

Hallam, council's liaison to the Housing and Homelessness Committee, said approximately 300 volunteers participated in the effort this year. She walked the South Side River Trail from Hot Metal Bridge to Station Square where they counted only three structures and saw no individuals. According to Hallam, between 60 and 70 people lived along that stretch of the river last year.

The county's public Encampment Dashboard notes 25 structures along the river on Jan. 18, 2025. The point-in-time count for Jan. 28 of that year was 281 unsheltered individuals; that data isn't broken down into location, however.

Community Counts is part of a HUD-mandated census of the unhoused population that determines federal funding for housing and homelessness programs. It takes place overnight every winter. Hallam did not provide the total census figures for 2026.

She attributed the apparent decrease to coordinated outreach efforts between former Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey's administration, Innamorato's county administration and local homeless service organizations. She praised the use of the Housing First approach, which prioritizes shelter before addressing other needs.

"I know how much effort we have put into helping connect folks with housing and not just removing tents," said Hallam.

She noted that the county's extended winter shelter system is currently open. So, while this year's count seems to be an improvement over last for the county's unhoused population, it doesn't reflect how many people might be living outdoors when the weather is warmer.