Onorato Says Philadelphia Decision to Suspend Reassessments Shows Statewide Property Tax System is Broken

By ONORATO FOR GOVERNOR

PHILADELPHIA: Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato said today that Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter’s decision to put a 2-year stop to property tax reassessments is proof that Pennsylvania’s assessment system is broken and needs a statewide solution.
“I have spent years standing up for Allegheny County’s homeowners to stop back-door property tax hikes through reassessment,” Onorato said. “As Governor, I will do the same for all Pennsylvanians by enacting a statewide fix to our broken property tax system.”

Onorato said that Pennsylvania is one of the only states in the nation where assessment is fully controlled by counties and disparities from one county to another are allowed to fester — threatening families’ economic security and hurting economic and community development.

“Pennsylvania’s over-reliance on property taxes hurts our homeowners as well as the quality of education in our schools. That is why I believe we must continue to implement the Legislature’s Costing-Out Report to increase the state share of school funding, while simultaneously addressing the broken property tax assessment system,” Onorato said.

“I applaud Mayor Nutter’s actions to protect Philadelphia homeowners from unfair and inaccurate reassessment,” closed Onorato. “The residents of all 67 Pennsylvania counties deserve a state law that ensures reassessments are fair, accurate and necessary — especially during these tough economic times.”

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