I was under the impression that it was decided that the fee would start in January, not September as originally discussed. I guess I was wrong.
Update September 1 12:37 PM
This is an important notice from LeboALERT. Bill mailed to you from Jordan Tax Service is for new storm water fee. Letter enclosed with it explains. Questions, call Jordan, 412-835-5243 or 724-731-2300.
I have received several phone calls from friends about the mailing with concerns that a good number of Lebo property owners & households are not at all familiar with Jordan Tax Service or its return address on the mailing envelope, and may think of the mailing as just more junk mail and pitch it.
ReplyDeleteOne of them suggested the risk would probably be less if the mailing envelope had something like "Mt. Lebanon Storm Water Bill" also printed on the front.
Sounds like it is not a bad idea. Wage earners / EIT filers will become familiar with Jordan Tax when they become the EIT collector for Lebo in 2012, I believe.
Bill Lewis
I see they outsourced the collection as well.
ReplyDeleteYes Jack, it'a a bit complicated.
ReplyDeleteThe original plan was to have PA American Water Co. (PAWC) be the billing & collection agent..for a fee..but late in the game, PAWC backed out and the Muni had to find a quick replacement.
PAWC is the billing agent for both the Muni and Alcosan's sanitary sewer surcharge fees...see the very end of your monthly PAWC bill...and has been for a number of years. It makes sense because the fees are based on water consumption, and PAWC supplies & meters the water...they have nothing to do with rainwater and storm sewers.
The Muni had earlier determined that their Tax Office was not the best agency to bill & collect stormwater fees (not a tax) from all property owners, not just taxable property but tax-exempt as well, three times per year even though they will be turning over EIT's to Jordan next year. The Tax Office will be taking on some of the Parking Authority's functions next year.
What you received today does not include disclosure, forms and details on fee discounts that will be available to properties that apply & qualify....this has become a somewhat controversial subject that remains a work-in-progress.
Bill Lewis
Oops I threw that out as it looked like a scam. I knew we didn't owe any tax to Jordan Tax Service. Many scams that we have been warned about are from foreign countries. Hmm Jordan is a foreign country hence I immediately thought SCAM. Mt Lebanon has even sent out Lebo alerts warning of scams from foreign countries. Doesn't anyone in this township who is in charge know what they are doing? I guess I'll be finding out what happens when you don't pay $32.00 to Jordan Tax Service since mine is in the trash, unopened. Come on Mt Lebanon Township get it together. Oh well it's only $32.00, I'll add it to the it's only $18.00 for the high school which turned out to be $57.00 a month for us.
ReplyDeleteThe Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a small country with few natural resources, but it has played a pivotal role in the struggle for power in the Middle East.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/828763.stm
I feel scammed by Mt Lebanon Township regarding this fee that looks and smells like a tax.
Sue Dixon
I paid the rain tax.
ReplyDeleteNow the municipality is guaranteeing my basement won't flood from water overflowing the municipal curb.
David Huston
The main number for the Municipality is being flooded (no pun intended) with phone calls. If you have a question or complaint, call your commissioner or email him or her. If you are living in a ward where the commissioner doesn't return phone calls or emails, email the entire Commission at commission@mtlebanon.org.
ReplyDeleteBill and Sue (and others),
ReplyDeletePoliticians call it a "fee" when they know that the public is pissed of about the word "tax." It's the same thing no matter how much they candy coat it. It's a large pool of money that they'll be tapping into in the near future for some "need" that they didn't plan for.
You're still paying a Johnstown Flood tax. When will they be done rebuilding Johnstown?
You know, the fee itself is small, but the "need" for it raises a very important point. We are very heavy on administrative expenses and short on program for the tax dollar in Mt. Lebanon. Specifically, we have a very active elected council, but we nonetheless have two senior administrators who, between them, cost us a hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to have around. One could well ask why we need either or both of them? What we really need is a CFO, who could actually even be a contract provider (that is, not a dedicated person) that we ought to be able to hire for well less than half of what we now pay for top administrators whose functions are murky and whose compensation and benefits are more than we need to pay for the purpose (together the two top Lebo "executives" earn more than both the Allegheny County Executive AND the full-time Mayor of Pittsburgh). Maybe the council should look to some administrative reform----we have very competent department heads and I see no need for umbrella "executives". We need someone to watch the bills and coordinate budget matters, not to babysit the town.
ReplyDeleteAnother item is that we now have hired an outside service to send tax bills and collect taxes (we have also lost the ability to with online banking). This is costly, especially considering that we have a whole department devoted to this, fully staffed. This new overhead cost is not necessary. We pay enough taxes in this town; administrative reform is in order.
Of course, if we taxed less and were less bureaucratic we might have a healthier business climate here and we might have to fight off the new businesses rather than beg them to come here. OK we got Primanti's - good - but remember we lost Trader Joe's, which located just feet away in USC. Uptown churns but does not grow....the taxes are anti-growth and defeat the prospects of a healthy, growing, town life...the school district is part of the problem, but it is not the whole problem.
I just called Jordan tax Services and their answering recording says Jordan Tax Service is a Debt collection service any information you provide will be used for the purpose of collecting the debt. I'm trying to get another tax bill because I threw mine away. There isn't an option for the Mt Lebanon Stormwater tax yet. I finally got someone on the phone by pushing an option for delinquent taxes and I was told there's no option yet for the Stormwater
ReplyDeleteTAX (yes they said tax) because they just got the account a couple days ago. I finally spoke to the Jordan tax service and they even called the Stormwater tax a tax again during our conversation about getting another bill. It't at tax to everyone else but the township managers.
Sue Dixon
Sue Dixon
OK, so let's summarize. We all pay a county tax, a Mt. Lebo property tax, a Mt. Lebo school tax, a Mt. Lebo wage tax, and now a stormwater management "tax". When will the madness end?
ReplyDelete