Uniontown City Council rejects settlement
Uniontown City Council on Wednesday voted against a proposed settlement of the property value appeals of 30 low income, rent-to-own homes.
Council members unanimously voted against the settlement that would have reduced the assessed value of the homes, which were built by Uniontown Family Homes in 2009, to $40,700 per home from $75,000 per home. The Fayette County Assessment Appeals Board set the $75,000 values last year.
Seventeen of the homes were built in a subdivision off of Bailey Avenue and 13 were built on lots scattered throughout the Gallatin Avenue, East End and Lafayette neighborhoods.
The lower assessment would have resulted in Uniontown Family Homes paying $500 per home annually in city real estate taxes. The higher assessment would make the taxes $917 per home, according to the proposed settlement.
The city, Uniontown Family Homes, the assessment appeals board and the Uniontown Area School District negotiated the settlement, which the school board has approved.
City solicitor J.W. Eddy said Uniontown Family Homes has appealed the $75,000 assessment to Common Pleas Court and the case is pending before Judge Steve Leskinen. The settlement would have resolved the case, he said.
The homes were originally assessed at $90,000 to $97,000 per home and Uniontown Family Homes initially asked the assessment appeals board to lower the amount to $15,000 per home but then increased the amount to $36,000 per home. The appeals board set the value at $75,000 per home last year.
Uniontown Family Homes, which is a partnership between Fayette County Community Action Agency and PIRHL Developers of Ohio, used tax credit financing and a state grant obtained by the Uniontown Redevelopment Authority to build the homes for income-restricted tenants.
Uniontown Family Homes argued that the tax credit financing it obtained from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency made the homes available only to low and moderate income residents and limits the rent they pay. Tenants’ rent would not be enough to pay taxes that are based on fair market property values, the developer argued last year.
Mayor Ed Fike said the homes will be assessed at their fair market value and subject to full taxes in 2015. That’s when the tax credits used to build the homes are due to expire and the tenants will be able to buy the homes. The rent-to-own agreements last 15 years.
Councilman Gary Gearing suggested tabling the vote on the settlement to allow the normal appeals process to take place.