Posted: 30 Jan 2011 12:24 AM PST

January 30, 2011|By Jeff Shields and Joseph Tanfani, Inquirer Staff Writers

Skeptical that Mayor Nutter and City Council will ever muster the political courage to repair Philadelphia's long-broken property-tax system, a group of tax-overhaul advocates and property owners is suing to force the city to adopt a new, equitable set of property values.

The lawsuit, filed in Common Pleas Court late Friday, asks the court to declare the city's property-tax system illegal and force the city to establish a new system.

It also seeks to cancel the 10 percent property-tax increase passed in 2010 and issue refunds to those who may have already paid at the higher rate.

The Nutter administration agrees that the system is broken and says it is working to fix it. But the lawsuit, led by two veteran tax activists, argues that city politicians are stalling, afraid of a backlash from middle-class voters whose property taxes will jump dramatically when the assessments are fixed.

The lead plaintiff is Brett Mandel, whose property-tax bill would probably at least double under a corrected system. The other 17 include owners of residential and commercial properties from all over the city.

"We have put forward the policies. We have said, 'Pretty please.' Now we have to do what is right, and just, and legal. And if you don't, there's going to be a consequence," said Mandel, a former candidate for city controller who sat on the 2003 Tax Reform Commission and had threatened to sue the city over property assessments since 2008.

Since his days on City Council, Nutter has been pushing to fix the city's broken property assessments. He played a key role in pushing a public vote last year that took the job of setting property values away from the dysfunctional Board of Revision of Taxes, following an Inquirer series on the agency's mismanagement and cronyism. After a legal fight, the seven-member BRT remains in place, but for appeals only.

A new Office of Property Assessments is in charge of setting the numbers, but city officials have said the job of fixing them will take at least two years.

"Honestly, you're not going to do a reassessment overnight if you're going to do it right," said Richie McKeithen, the city's new top assessor.

That's too long for the property owners and their lawyer Kenneth L. Metzner, an ordained minister from South Philadelphia and a leading critic of the BRT.

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Property tax bills on the way

Posted: 31 Jan 2011 11:56 AM PST

The Arapahoe County Treasurer's Office was to begin mailing property-tax notices on Jan. 24, but only property owners who pay taxes directly — not through a mortgage company — will receive a notice unless they have requested one.

"Since Arapahoe County is joining other counties in providing tax notices electronically, we want to make sure all property owners are aware of this change," Treasurer Sue Sandstrom said.

Instead of mailing about 218,000 notices as the county has done in past years, the treasurer will be sending roughly 100,000 in 2011. That will save the county approximately $40,000 in paper and postage expenses, according to the treasurer.

"But, we also want to let all property owners know they have the option to take advantage of e-notices, or opt in to receive a paper copy if they prefer," she added.

Last October, the treasurer's office notified nearly 115,000 property owners that they will receive their tax bills electronically in 2011 because the Colorado Legislature passed a law authorizing counties to do so.

Historically, the tax bills have been mailed in January to all property owners. The bills cover taxes for the previous year.

The treasurer's office also sends the tax information to mortgage lenders, but Sandstrom said property owners are the ones who are ultimately responsible and may want to follow up with their lender to make sure their taxes have been paid.

Included with the 2010 tax bill is a yellow insert offering property owners the opportunity to discontinue paper copies of their tax bills.

All property owners will be able to access an electronic version of their tax notices at co.arapahoe.co.us/departments/tr in early February.

For more information, call 303-795-4550.

Property tax likely hot election topic

Posted: 29 Jan 2011 09:38 PM PST

CARBONDALE - During its December meeting, the Carbondale City Council decided to reinstate the city's property tax, a decision that will help the city pay its necessary pension costs, but will also result in homeowners paying a few extra dollars per month.

With primary elections coming Feb. 22, taxes and the city budget will undoubtedly be a hot topic. And the five candidates running for mayor have varied opinions on the issue.

Two of this year's mayoral candidates are on the City Council. Steven Haynes voted in favor of the property tax reinstatement, while Joel Fritzler voted against it.

Haynes said the reinstatement was something he never wanted to see the city do, but that it was a necessity to pay for rising pension costs. If elected, he said he would want to take a close look at the property tax and the pension system each year to see what the city's best option would be.

"That's our current system of government. Government works because of taxes," Haynes said. "... I'm open to all options that will allow us to provide positive services to the citizens of Carbondale, and to the staff."

Fritzler proposed a quarter-percent sales tax increase, instead of a property tax reinstatement, saying the sales tax would bring in revenue from all of the people who use Carbondale services throughout the day, instead of just those who live in town.

If more revenue is needed down the line, Fritzler said the city could push state lawmakers to allow for a local income tax, or that the city could still afford to raise the sales tax.

"Right now, we're still a quarter-percent lower than Marion, so we're still competitive in that route," Fritzler said. "I think we can still raise that a little to remain competitive, if needed."

Brent Ritzel said he would not approve of hikes in the sales or property tax.

"I do not believe in taxing behaviors that we, as a city, want to encourage," he said. "We want to encourage consumerism, and we want to encourage people to purchase and own property. Yet we're very heavily taxing those."

Instead, Ritzel said he would propose as mayor a "bag tax," which would charge customers an additional 10 cents per paper or plastic bag used at the grocery store. He said the tax could drastically reduce the city's use of such bags while also raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.

George Maroney, former administrator for Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, said the city can't afford to keep taxing its residents. If elected, Maroney said he would speak with the heads of other taxing bodies in Carbondale - such as school districts and the park district - to see what can be done to keep taxes down.

"We have to find a way to control and manage the tax situation," he said. "As a mayor, do you have control over all of that (other taxing bodies)? Obviously, you don't. But you sure have got some influence."

Former SIU Chancellor Sam Goldman said people get particularly frustrated with local taxes, as they've already had to pay taxes at the federal, state and county level.

He would support a tax increase "only as a last resort" - a position he believes the city was in when it decided to reinstate its portion of the property tax.

"We had to do it because we have to pay that pension fund ," Goldman said. "We had no choice. Otherwise, I'm not so sure."

rob.crow@thesouthern.com

618-351-5080

Property Tax

Monday, January 31, 2011

“Lawsuit: City property-tax system illegal” plus 2 more

“Lawsuit: City property-tax system illegal” plus 2 more

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