This can't be good

The Discussion Agenda for Tuesday is here.

Susan Morgans has been allotted thirty minutes to discuss the recycling changes. I have been looking at property in central Florida where the regular garbage is picked up twice a week while the recycling is picked up once a week. I asked the real estate agent what is the fee and is it single stream. She looked at me with a puzzled look and said that there is no additional fee for collection and that it is single stream. Florida doesn't have a state income tax and no local taxes, only county property taxes. The millage is quite low. Now I understand why people go there to retire.

Another agenda item is the discussion of the stormwater fee. That can only mean that there will be an increase. For now, the commission agenda states that they are considering the fee to be collected annually. Again, Florida doesn't charge for a rain tax like Lebo does. Also, there are no parking meters there. Crazy, huh?

For all the trolls out there, I am still remaining in Lebo, but I now know where I am going to move when I get the heck out of here.

New recycling regulations for next year

Recycling changes loom for Mt. Lebanon, other South Hills Communities

Starting next year, Mt. Lebanon residents will be unable to throw glass and select types of plastic into their recycling bins. 

We will only be able to recycle plastics numbered 1 and 2. No glass bottles or jars will be accepted.  The article states that we can recycle cardboard. That is not entirely true. We cannot recycle pizza boxes because of the grease. I wonder about the grease in boxes containing cheese sticks, fries, or any other take out food. I think they are discriminating against pizza lovers. I'm offended.

We better not be hit with Pay as You Throw next. My recycling can is usually quite filled with glass jars and bottles. I have tried to be more mindful about recycling and now it is going to blow up in our faces. With our super duper Public Works that has gone waaaaaaaaaaay over budget and is behind six months, maybe we can have our own glass recycling program since we will have the space for it.

I'm still not over the stormwater fee. Mt. Lebanon started charging us a stormwater fee starting in 2011, so that they could control stormwater runoff in areas prone to flooding. Yeah, that's working well. Maybe we will hear more about how that million dollars a year collected every year in fees, in the September issue of mtl Magazine. We will get to see all the flood photos collected of this past June.

Western Pa. towns eye fees to control stormwater runoff

“During the past two years, I have been asked to speak at three different professional conferences on this subject and Mt. Lebanon's program,” said Mt. Lebanon municipal Manager Steve Feller. “Because of the stormwater fee, Mt. Lebanon has had the resources to initiate numerous projects to maintain and enhance the existing system and also expand the system to areas deficient of storm sewer infrastructure.”
Since Mt. Lebanon adopted the program, which raises about $1 million a year, Dormont, Whitehall and Scott have weighed potential fees, Feller said.

The bottom line is that we are paying for deficient storm sewer infrastructure while flooding is worse than ever and next we will hear that we have to pay more as we try to be green.

Revamping the Stormwater Management Fee

I'm sure by now, you have all received your 2017 Stormwater Management Fee. Some people have referred to this fee as a "rain tax." Each single family home, duplex, or townhome is charged for one Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU), regardless of size. All other properties, including places of worship, are charged 1 ERU for each 2,400 square feet of impervious surface.

Every home is charged a yearly fee of $96.00, or $94.08 if paid by 1/31/2017. Some homes in Mt. Lebanon have leach beds, which do not feed into the stormwater management system, yet are still charged a stormwater fee. Starter homes in Mt. Lebanon are charged the same amount as the mansions in Virginia Manor.

While the commissioners contemplate PAYT or SMART, whichever is the acronym du jour, perhaps they should take a step back and look at how inequitable their rain tax is.

Also, take note of what Jordan Tax Service charges us for our sewage bill. It is a flat rate of $4.36 per bill.  I am paying, on average, close to a monthly 28% fee. I questioned this service charge with Jordan Tax Service, only to be told that it is what Mt. Lebanon agreed to pay. When bringing it to Andrew McCreery's attention, I was told that is what Jordan is charging us, and Mt. Lebanon has no control of it. It sounded negotiable to me. So which is it?

While on the subject of utilities, I spoke with an electrical supplier about negotiating a municipal rate. It is possible, but when I presented the idea to the commissioners, the idea was rejected.

When all of these inequities are corrected, I will be the first one to praise PAYT/SMART, but until then, it is just another bad idea coming from the Municipal Building.

Sewage Bill in Your Mail Box UPDATED

If you haven't received your sewage bill from Jordan Tax Service, you should be getting it in today's mail. Prior to this, Alcosan and Mt. Lebanon charges were billed on your water bill. For me, this means I have to write a check to Jordan Tax Service monthly instead of having it electronically deducted from my bank account. I thought I could write one check a year to Jordan, but that has now changed. There is no option to pay this bill electronically.

About that stormwater fee that was mailed out to everyone, including churches and temples, let me remind you that Raja was behind that fee.  He always talks about how he cut taxes, but he never mentions how even the tax exempt folks are getting charged with the largest fee increase in the history of Mt. Lebanon.

Updated September 28, 2012 2:11 PM According to Susan Morgans' never dated release on the Municipal website,

By October, Jordan hopes to provide electronic billing options.

Not again!!!!

The county is considering another property tax increase next year. We just had a 21% tax increase this year. Seems as though the county wants to have a rainy day fund. To do this, the county may be:

• Making renewed efforts to collect county debts, including back taxes.
• Raising fees for use of county facilities like sports fields and golf courses.
• Reducing or eliminating the discount period for paying property taxes early.
• Cutting or eliminating the $15,000 homestead exemption.
• Raising taxes for 2013 by as much as another mill.

Here in Mt. Lebanon, our rainy day fund may be used to turf a field for rainy days. We do have that other rainy day fund called the stormwater fee.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/allegheny-county-could-face-another-tax-increase-councilman-warns-634776/

Stormwater fee on the "Watch List"

On the "Watch List": Mt. Lebanon's stormwater "fee." Now being appealed at the local level on separate grounds by an apartment building owner and the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, the fee that is a tax that is fraught with legal jeopardy is sure to end up in court. If it's a "fee," its application is arbitrary and capricious. If it's a tax, nonprofits are exempt but it violates the Pennsylvania Constitution's Uniformity Clause.



Read more: Pittsburgh Laurels & Lances - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_785555.html#ixzz1oe6dGryq

Catholic Diocese Says "No" to the Stormwater Fee

Mt. Lebanon is getting some resistance to their new stormwater fee, according to the Trib. St. Bernard, St. Winifred, and Seton-La Salle are withholding their payment since they are non-profits and feel that they are exempt from the "rainwater tax."

Mt. Lebanon nonprofits withhold new fee