New ‘LOOP’ program in Pittsburgh aims to keep longtime residents living in the city

PITTSBURGH — Leaders celebrated a plan to keep longtime Pittsburghers living in the city on Monday. The goal is to protect homeowners so they aren’t forced to move or sell.

The Longtime Owner Occupant Program, or “LOOP”, was signed into law in July. It gives the City of Pittsburgh the power to create and enact a real estate tax relief program that would impact specific neighborhoods.

“We’re not creating something out of thin air,” Rep. Dan Miller said. “This has worked in other places as well.”

Sen. Jay Costa has been pushing for the program for years.

“The goal of this is to be able to have folks stay in their home, the wisdom keepers, as they’ve been described, to ensure that they’re able to stay in the neighborhoods, to allow that continuity and then maintain that fabric of that neighborhood,” Costa said. “The city can determine how they want to approach it. It could be a freeze on property taxes. It could be a deferment of property taxes.”

Kyle Webster with Action Housing believes this will help communities like Lawrenceville and the South Side by protecting the people who have lived there for decades.

“My neighbors who are in their 60s, 70s, 80s who have lived their whole lives, they have a set amount of taxes that they pay annually that they’re happy to pay, that their pensions or Social Security support. If those taxes go up, their income doesn’t go up proportionately,” Webster said.

A key part of the legislation is that city lawmakers are required to hold public hearings. Before they can take action, you will have a chance to weigh in.

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