Export officials begin seeing benefits of controversial landlord license fee

When Export officials introduced the idea of a $100 annual license fee for rental property owners, it was met with a good amount of push-back from not just local landlords but also borough council members with rental units.

Since it went into effect, however, some borough officials said they can already see its benefits.

Borough tax collector Cynthia Delissio said that of the borough’s 285 rental units, 151 have complied with the new ordinance and license fee, and 92 have yet to respond. More than 75% of rentals in the borough are owned by 98 non-resident landlords.

“There are also five additional rental units in the borough that we weren’t aware of,” Delissio told council members Tuesday night. “We’ve also added 63 renters who were not previously on the Export tax rolls.”

Part of the reason borough officials instituted the license fee was to keep better track of who should be paying earned-income tax to the borough.

Councilman and Export Fire Chief Dave Silvis said more-accurate information about borough residents has already been beneficial to the fire department.

“We had an incident on Madison Avenue with a gas leak, and because of this, we didn’t have to wait for hours to reach the landlord or the tenant,” Silvis said. “We called (council president) Barry (Delissio), he had the paperwork and we were able to reach who we needed to reach. So on behalf of the fire department, it’s working positively for us.”

Councilman Joe Ferri, who initially did not support the license fee, agreed.

“Obviously, from what Cynthia said, it’s doing some good,” Ferri said. “There’s some merit to it.”

Councilman John Nagoda, who also objected to the original proposal, said the ordinance still needs fine-tuning.

“I have someone whose brother is living in a property she owns. He doesn’t pay rent, but she’s still subject to this fee,” Nagoda said. “We live in a community where some families still have their parents’ or grandparents’ property, and they let people live in that house. It’s not fair for someone like that to have to pay this fee.”

Delissio asked for an extension to April 30 for landlords to get their license applications processed. After that, any who are not in compliance will be charged with violating the ordinance in a complaint to the local district court.

Council granted the April 30 deadline by a unanimous vote.