County Council
New legislation will take some of the bite out of rising taxes.
For longtime homeowners in redeveloping areas, rising market values can mean rising tax bills. On Feb. 10, Allegheny County Council passed a program capping eligible owners' tax increases at 35%. Owners qualify after 10 years in their homes, with incomes up to $131,625 for a family of four. However, one council member argued the income limit should be higher.
Written by Amy Whipple
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. (CORRECTION, Feb. 26: A previous version of this article said the city of Pittsburgh passed its own LOOP last year. City Council gave preliminary approval in a Mar. 2025 committee meeting but the bill expired without action at the end of the year.)
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