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State Rep. Tim Solobay D-Washington www.pahouse.com/Solobay

Solobay, Fontana team up to help struggling cities

HARRISBURG, Nov. 23 – State Rep. Tim Solobay, D-Washington, and state Sen. Wayne D. Fontana, D-Allegheny, are teaming up to help cities and municipalities realize revenues from tax-exempt properties.

Solobay and Fontana are preparing legislation that would give municipalities the option of continuing with existing voluntary agreements with tax-exempt properties, or to impose a fee based on total square footage of the properties. 

"Local governments are required to provide such services as police and fire protection and road maintenance whether or not a property pays taxes. This makes it difficult for cities and municipalities with a large number of tax-exempt properties to raise the revenues they need to support such services," Solobay said.

Both Solobay and Fontana said their bills would need to be crafted in a way so as not to impact small nonprofit organizations that can least afford to assist their host municipalities financially.

"While these bills would require considerable amendment before passage, they at the very least begin a dialogue at the state level about the impact of tax-exempt real property on the fiscal health of Pennsylvania's municipalities," Fontana said.

Solobay said the problem of tax-exempt properties affects both large and small communities across the Commonwealth.

"It isn't just big cities affected by tax-exempt real estate," Solobay said. "We have similar issues in the city of Washington and Washington County, which I represent, as the number of tax-exempt properties grows and the burden of paying for services falls on the shoulders of property owners who do pay taxes."

Solobay and Fontana expect to introduce their bills in coming weeks.