Tax increase in Carlisle for 2013

WHTM reports that Carlisle has approved a tax increase for 2013:

Carlisle Borough Council has narrowly approved its 2013 budget Thursday night and it includes a 7 percent tax increase.


It's a new fire tax that's expected to bring in $300,000 to the borough. That money can only be used for emergency services.

Also Thursday, council members said they'll begin working on the 2014 budget in January because early projections show a $200,000-$300,000 deficit.

Given the projected budget deficit for 2014, will we see another tax increase next year?

Carlisle Rental Housing Task Force recommendations; Rental inspection ordinance shot down.

Last month, I wrote about the Carlisle Rental Housing Task Force and its efforts to advise Carlisle Borough Council regarding a potential rental inspection ordinance.

Yesterday evening, the task force finalized its recommendations. Those recommendations did not include a rental inspection ordinance:

But the audience was only interested in one of the 19 bullet points put forward: "rental units need to be inspected (interior and exterior) on a regular basis."

The task force's two-hour meeting at Borough Hall concluded with a vote on the most controversial aspect of the group's work. But both sides had said all they had to say at previous meetings and there was no discussion on the issue, which failed by a 5-5 vote.

The audience was heavily populated by landlords and spontaneous applause broke out after the inspection motion failed.

Carlisle Sentinel

The Task Force recommendations did include a number of items that have failed in other jurisdictions or are illegal, including mandatory lease amendments (such matters are governed solely by state law), mandatory registration (which requirements are usually ignored by a substantial percentage of landlords) and a residency requirement. The recommendations also include a voluntary inspection program.

These recommendations will not be considered by Carlisle Borough Council until at least September.

Carlisle proposed rental property inspection; Carlisle Rental Housing Task Force meeting.

In Carlisle on July 18, 2011, the Carlisle Task Force on Rental Housing convened a panel discussion on proposed rental housing legislation. The Task Force invited panelists to address questions related to the operation of rental inspection ordinances in various parts of Pennsylvania. The panel consisted of myself (speaking on behalf of landlords), a representative of PAR and representatives of numerous municipalities, including Lancaster, West Chester, Bellefonte, Gettysburg, Shippensburg and Chambersburg.

The general purpose of the meeting seemed to be for the municipal representatives to explain how well their inspection ordinances worked for those municipalities. Despite their conclusions, they provided very few specifics regarding why an inspection ordinance is needed to address particular problems. The representative from Bellefonte stated that 95% of problems with rental properties related to the exterior of the buildings, thus indicating that 95% of problems can be observed and addressed without an inspection ordinance. Similar conclusions can be drawn from their conclusions and comments regarding police activity at rental units.

Lancaster's representative acknowledged that Lancaster's inspection program is partially funded by grants from the federal government.

The West Chester representative acknowledged the prior litigation whereby the Chester County Court forced the borough to refund more than one million dollars in inspection fees to the landlords several years ago.

The Task Force is set to vote on its recommendations at its August meeting.

Carlisle Borough proposed rental inspection ordinance; Joint task force; SOSO

Click here for the previous post on a proposed rental inspection ordinance in Carlisle.

Yesterday evening, an organization known as "SOSO" presented its proposal for rental inspections, licensing and related costs. As I wrote earlier this week:

The measure would require municipal inspections of every unit every time a new tenant moves in or out. The proposal would create a licensing system for landlords.

The proposal would also create a point system by which private complainants could, by virtue of filing complaints with the Borough, cause landlords to accumulate enough "points" that the Borough would revoke their license. These complaints would not have to be adjudicated in order for points to accumulate. This proposal would violate due process.

The "SOSO" advocates presented a list of municipalities in Pennsylvania that have adopted similar ordinances. The list included municipalities that have lost lawsuits related to their ordinances and were forced to provide refunds to landlords. SOSO did not mention this litigation, despite including these municipalities on their list.

More importantly, the list presented to Borough Council excluded certain municipalities where litigation remains pending currently. SOSO's list made no reference to Berwick Borough, Penbrook Borough and Pittsburgh. All of these municipalities are embroiled to one degree or another in litigation. Berwick and Pittsburgh have been expensive for all parties, while Penbrook has involved numerous smaller actions over individual instances of enforcement (the expense of which is just beginning to be felt). I and others brought some of this litigation to Council's attention during the public speak-out session.

If you are a municipal official, be careful about proposals for landlord regulation. These ordinances have often resulted in litigation, with varying results and costs. Without getting into the details of every legal challenge over the years, my own opinion of the legality of these ordinances is that an ordinance can survive a legal challenge, but only if it is watered down to the point where the municipality will not receive the desired benefit (revenue). Even then, actual enforcement of the ordinance will result in a greater than anticipated burden to the municipality, to the point where enforcement will eventually (or sooner) be abandoned (or will be inconsistent), thus creating a new basis for legal challenge.

Borough Council took no action, but announced the creation of a new joint task force to examine this issue and report to the Council. The composition of the task force has yet to be determined. Proponents of the ordinance immediately attempted to exclude from the task force (under the guise of limiting the task force to Carlisle residents) those of us that had pointed out litigation in other municipalities.

There will undoubtedly be more news to follow in the coming months.

Carlisle Borough rental inspection ordinance proposal.

Carlisle Borough in Cumberland County may shortly consider a rental inspection ordinance containing many controversial features. A community group plans to propose such a measure tomorrow evening at the Borough Council meeting.

The measure would require municipal inspections of every unit every time a new tenant moves in or out. The proposal would create a licensing system for landlords.

The proposal would also create a point system by which private complainants could, by virtue of filing complaints with the Borough, cause landlords to accumulate enough "points" that the Borough would revoke their license. These complaints would not have to be adjudicated in order for points to accumulate. This proposal would violate due process.

The meeting takes place tomorrow at 7:00 P.M. at the Carlisle Borough offices at 53 West South Street, Carlisle, PA. The public will be afforded the opportunity to speak against this proposal.