Santorum withdraws tax break claim for Penn Hills house
2006-09-27
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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rss feedU.S. Sen. Rick Santorum no longer claims a contentious property tax exemption on a home in suburban Pittsburgh, according to Allegheny County real estate records.
The change came before Allegheny County Council was scheduled to vote on legislation calling for strengthened oversight -- and in some cases prosecution -- of property owners who improperly claim a "homestead exemption."
The exemption is a property-tax break that can only be claimed on a primary residence. It is worth about $70 a year.
Mr. Santorum has a home in the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills and one in Virginia, where he and his family live most of the year.
In a letter dated Sept. 18, Mr. Santorum requested that county officials remove his name from the tax-exemption list. Mr. Santorum wrote that his Penn Hills home is his primary residence and that he qualifies for the exemption, but that he was voluntarily giving it up.
"Because the tax status of my home has been the subject of recent news reports . . . I have voluntarily elected not to claim the homestead exemption for my Penn Hills residence," he wrote in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
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