Here is my summary of the Wednesday, April 24th, 2024 regular meeting of Allegheny County Council. My votes are in parentheses. All 15 members were present.
We had a slew of board appointments and during this meeting, the vast majority of which received unanimous approval. However, two were voted down.
12957-24 (No)
The first was the appointment of Sharon Adams to the Friends of the South Park (FOSP). There were significant concerns expressed regarding Ms. Adams’ previous actions as FOSP Chair, leading to a vote of 2-13 against her appointment, with Futules and Palmiere voting in favor.
12965-24 (No)
The second was the appointment of Councilman Bob Macey to the Southwestern PA Commission. At a council meeting this March, Mr. Macey stated, “Now, I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but on the other hand, here we have a situation where people in this country may have come here legally, may have had all the right papers, but may have came with a hidden agenda.” Many members (myself included) considered this comment to be xenophobic, felt that Mr. Macey should not be awarded this position, and questioned his ability to treat all people (namely, our immigrant community) fairly if appointed to the commission. His appointment failed 5-8-2. Bonaroti, DeMarco, Filliaggi, Futules, and Palmiere voted in favor. Macey and Walton abstained.
12915-24 (Yes)
This ordinance amends the county code to establish a mechanism for ensuring continuity of the county Chief Assessment Officer (CAO). The existing provision requires that the CAO be appointed by the County Manager with the unanimous consent of the Property Assessment Oversight Board (which no longer exists). The new provision would require the County Manager appoint the CAO with approval by the majority of council. This passed 14-1 with Walton as the lone no.
13027-24 (Committee)
Councilmember Hallam introduced a bill to create a standard process for periodic countywide reassessments. A countywide reassessment would be triggered if the County’s Coefficient of Dispersion in excess of 15.00 or the County’s Price Related Differential outside the range of 0.95 to 1.05. In other words, a reassessment would be triggered in the event that home values deviate too much from the base year. This was sent to the Committee on Assessment Practices.
13028-24 (Yes)
A motion was passed to hold a public hearing related to reassessments on Wednesday, May 22nd at 5pm in the Gold Room of the Allegheny County Courthouse. This passed unanimously.