Jan 5, 2016 By Christopher Buckley 2 min read

When Charleroi officials first enacted a rental license and inspection fee, the cost was $10.

The fee was raised over the years to $50 per property regardless of the number of units.

But a new hike — up to $100 per unit — is “ridiculous” and “completely over the top,” said property owner Carl Miklos. He estimated that some landlords will face a hike of 800 to 1,000 percent.

“If you told the people on council you were going to raise their taxes 800 percent, the ‘for sale’ signs would go up so fast,” Miklos said.

Miklos said he believes investors will leave Charleroi rather than face the new fees.

“The purpose was originally to regulate slumlords,” Miklos said. “I understand that. It was to cover the cost of (rental) inspections.

“But this hike is nothing more than a vehicle to fill a tax void rather than raising taxes.”

The new fee is capped at 31 units per address. That still will increase the fee for the Char House senior high rise from $50 in 2015 to $3,100 in 2016.

“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that they included the $50 fee in their budget and had it on the agenda to vote on, then changed it during the reorganization meeting and not all of council was aware of the change,” said Mark Alterici.

“They should have given everyone on council time to research it and see what other communities are charging.”

Monessen, for example, charges $50 per rental property.

Alterici said his costs will triple.

“It’s not fair because they gave no one any notice,” Alterici said. “They blindsided everyone, including some members of council who had no idea they were going to vote on this.”

Alterici said most leases are signed at the start of the year.

“I’m not going back to any of those tenants and pass this on,” Alterici said.