Courtesy of Murrysville.com
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Murrysville council will table a proposed ordinance that would allow it to raise its percentage of the earned income tax, citing confusion and misperception in discussions with residents.
“There’s a lot of misinformation going around about what this ordinance does,” Council President Dayne Dice said. “This ordinance would only enable council, at a later date, to raise the earned income tax by up to 0.5%.”
Enabling legislation merely empowers a government body to take a specific action, as opposed to enacting a tax hike simply by its passage.
Murrysville council may open the door for its 1st tax hike since 2007 triblive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from triblive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Patrick Varine | Tribune-Review
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Murrysville council will take public comment March 3 on what could be its first tax increase in 13 years.
The public hearing will explore a proposal to double earned-income taxes from the current 0.5% to 1%.
“This goes back to our fiscal analysis and the need to identify alternate revenue sources,” Chief Administrator Jim Morrison said at council’s Feb. 3 meeting. “Our original projection was to start doing that in 2023; then covid came.”
Morrison said earned-income tax has become a major revenue source for the municipality.
Murrysville council approved a 2021 budget of $14.2 million that does not include a tax increase.
Council voted 5-0 Wednesday to OK the budget, which will keep property taxes at 12.15 mills. Council members Jamie Lee Korns and Tony Spadaro were not present.
Municipal officials said, while taxes have remained steady this will be the 14th year in a row they have not gone up creating a balanced budget without a tax hike is becoming more of a challenge each year.
For 2021, 1.7 mills has been reallocated as follows:
• 0.9 mills (roughly $306,000) from the general fund for the Murrysville Community Library.
• 0.6 mills (roughly $204,000) from the capital reserve fund for Murrysville’s fire companies.