Vandergrift weighing $150 increase to rental licensing fee to bolster code enforcement

Vandergrift officials are in near-unanimous agreement that it’s time for a fourfold increase in the local rental licensing fee.

Council voted Monday to advertise an ordinance raising the fee, unchanged since its introduction at least a decade ago, from $50 to $200.

Landlords are charged for each unit they own. The owner of a duplex, for example, would owe the borough $400 a year if the ordinance passes.

Given there’s somewhere around 1,200 rental units in Vandergrift, the hike would add roughly $180,000 to borough coffers over what the current fee brings in.

Rae Ann Bruner was the only council member to vote against the measure after a brief, but lively, discussion.

“That’s an awful big jump,” she said.

“It’s not that much when you’re getting $700, $800 a month for a rental,” countered Councilman Bryan Young.

As the vote made apparent, most council members view the higher financial burden on landlords — who would certainly shift some or all of the cost to tenants — as an acceptable trade-off for additional revenue.

While the proceeds would go to the borough’s general fund, the idea is to use the extra money to pay for the code enforcement officer’s salary and related expenses, such as boarding up abandoned properties.

The increase might also make unscrupulous landlords think twice about operating in Vandergrift, in the view of Council President Tom Holmes.

“We know that the rent has doubled or tripled in the rent in some of these places, so it’s not necessary to make money, but to give us a tool to enforce what needs to be taken care of in these properties,” Holmes said.

According to Victoria Baur, assistant deputy director of the Westmoreland County Planning Division and a collaborator with Vandergrift on a regional blight study, “the biggest tool to address blight is code enforcement.”

Many communities in the county, she noted, put less than 1% of their budget toward code enforcement.

Vandergrift has plenty of rental rules on the books to enforce beyond the licensing fee.

Rental properties are subject to inspection and, if necessary, reinspection by a borough code enforcement officer before a new tenant can move in. Each visit runs the property owner $75.

Furthermore, landlords who do not live within 15 miles of Vandergrift must designate a manager who meets that qualification or establish a full-time office in the area.

Other towns in the Alle-Kiski Valley recently updated their housing rules, though mostly to get ahead of possible issues with short-term rentals through platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.

In December, Cheswick implemented a rental property licensing system as well as a mandatory local point of contact for landlords.

Freeport passed a similar ordinance in September, requiring annual registration and inspection of any housing units available to rent for less than 30 consecutive days.

Officials in both cases said there were few, if any short-term rentals in town when the ordinances passed.

Vandergrift’s rental licensing ordinance is available for review at the borough building, 109 Grant Ave.

Council could vote on the fee change as early as its March 3 meeting.