Increased homestead exemption likely means lower property taxes in Harmar

The average Harmar homeowner could save about $34.50 in real estate taxes in 2020 as supervisors recently passed a $10,000 increase for the homestead tax exemption.

The township supervisors last Thursday passed the township’s final 2020 budget of $2.7 million. It does not include a tax increase.

The township real estate tax millage will remain at 3.45 mills.

A Harmar resident who owns a house assessed at $100,000 in 2019 paid $345 in township real estate taxes.

With the new, increased homestead tax exemption, that same house will be assessed for tax purposes at $90,000 in 2020. So the property owner would owe $310.50, which is $34.50 less than this year.

The homestead tax exemption reduces the assessed value of a home for tax purposes. Residents must apply to Allegheny County to be eligible for the tax exemption.

Allegheny County offers homeowners an $18,000 decrease in the assessed value of their homes when calculating county real estate taxes, and each taxing body can offer its own reduction.

In previous years, supervisors approved $20,000 in homestead tax exemptions that still apply for township real estate taxes. The 2020 total is $30,000.

Supervisors Chairman Bob Seibert had said that the increased homestead tax exemption was a way to give real estate tax breaks to the residents who most need it.

The $10,000 increase in the township homestead exemption will reduce the township’s income in 2020 by about $30,000, said Ian Fitzgerald, Harmar’s secretary and treasurer.