Wilkinsburg couple takes on Allegheny County over taxes
WILKINSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) — A Wilkinsburg couple says the newcomer tax is anything but welcoming.
A young couple who puts their roots on Peeble Street is taking on Allegheny County in court for new homeowners everywhere blindsided by these big bills.
"We didn't really know much about the neighborhood, but it was very nice," Shaquille Charles said. "The bus line goes right across."
"It was also affordable, but it was close to the city," Madelyn Gioffre said. "Close to lots of parts of the city, (Carnegie Mellon University), the hospitals he would have to commute to. But it felt very much like a neighborhood."
Charles and Gioffre made Wilkinsburg home when they bought a two-story house for $200,000 before the pandemic. At the time, the assessment came in at around $80,000.
A year later, a letter arrived in the mail, hiking the taxes to double.
"Had we known, it probably would have changed our mind about buying a house," Charles said. "We probably would have just rented or figured something else out."
It's a story Mike Suley is tired of hearing about.
"Allegheny County last year made $4.2 million from the newcomer tax," said Suley, an assessment consultant. "And Allegheny County does nothing. Allegheny County is being rewarded for having bad assessments."
That is why he is involved in the lawsuit the couple filed against Allegheny County. Suley said he has tracked this "blame game" since the tax began in 2001.
"Prior to that, the appeals board would look at assessments on the street and just try to make sure everything was equal and equitable," Suley said. "And all of a sudden, they started, I call it, chasing sales."
"I don't believe that the politicians talk to these folks to see what they're going through," he added. "It's a sucker punch."
From $3,500 in taxes to close to $9,000, the couple will fork over tax payments double and triple their neighbors.
"If our taxes increase $1,000, sure, we can handle that. We would be happy to pay that to make the schools better. But $5,000? It's just untenable," Gioffre said.
Suley calls it the "blame game" because he said the county government blames the school districts and vice versa.
