Insight on Mt. Lebanon Home Rule Charter
Thank you for providing the Primary Voter’s Guide in your May 6-12, 2015, edition. I would like to provide some background and clarification to the remarks of Steve McLean regarding the Mt. Lebanon Home Rule Charter.
In 1975, Mt. Lebanon was one of the first communities in Pennsylvania to adopt a Home Rule Charter. Since then, there have been a number of reviews made to recommend changes. I was a member of the non-partisan Ad Hoc Home Rule Charter Study Committee working over the period 2012-2013. Our committee made a number of recommendations aimed at improving governmental efficiency, increasing transparency and to bring the Charter in step with current technology and conditions. Each recommendation made by the Committee had unanimous support of the membership.
Of the recommendations made, there was none that related to changing the number of votes by Commissioners required to raise taxes. We did make a recommendation to reduce the limit on the amount that the Commission could raise property taxes without voter approval back to the levels established when the Home Rule Charter was adopted.
The work of the committee is complete and a full report is available on the Mt. Lebanon municipal website. The Commission may place the recommendations as referendums for consideration during local elections. It is important to understand that none of the recommended changes to the Home Rule Charter will come into force without the majority support of the voters of Mt. Lebanon. So far, two of the recommendations have been considered by the voters and both have passed with overwhelming support.
Geoffrey R. Hurd
Mt. Lebanon