Export council may institute rental license fee, regular inspections
Export officials will look into an update to the way rental inspections are conducted in the borough that has the upshot of helping to plug a roughly $60,000 gap in the 2022 budget.
Mayor Joe Zaccagnini asked council members to authorize solicitor Wes Long to draft an ordinance which would put into place a $200 annual license fee for all landlords, along with a requirement that 312 rentals in the borough be inspected on a rotating basis once every two years.
“Right now, our earned income tax is coming up short because we don’t have all the information we otherwise should have (from landlords),” Zaccagnini said. Of the 312 letters sent over the past year, Zaccagnini said the borough only received responses from about a third.
“It’ll enhance safety, we’ll get our inspections done, and it’ll save us from having to do a new occupancy permit every time someone new moves in, which we’re not finding out about now,” Long said.
Councilman Joe Ferri asked why the fee was targeted towards residential rentals and not business rentals as well.
“We aren’t having a problem with our businesses,” Zaccagnini said. “They’re keeping their properties up to date, and in a lot of cases they’re the owners as well as the occupants. I’m trying to stay fair to everyone and this is the best way to do that.”
Council President Barry Delissio said absentee landlords have been an ongoing issue in the borough. Councilwoman Melanie Litz agreed.
“If this is a way to address this problem that we’ve had for decades, I say we try it,” Litz said.
If council were to approve the new license fee and inspection language, it would empower the borough to lien properties whose landlords do not pay the license fee, and to file a complaint with the local magistrate.
“This way, we should be able to enhance the way we can collect the earned income tax the borough is due, and this also institutes an occupancy inspection schedule.”
Long said he plans to bring a draft version of an ordinance back for council’s consideration in December.
Patrick Varine is a TribLive reporter covering Delmont, Export and Murrysville. He is a Western Pennsylvania native and joined the Trib in 2010 after working as a reporter and editor with the former Dover Post Co. in Delaware. He can be reached at pvarine@triblive.com.
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