Of the property-tax breaks Allegheny County offers, Act 77 is the one that looks at a household’s income. The county Treasurer’s office says residents 60 or older with gross household income of $30,000 or less can receive a 30 percent discount on the real estate tax for their primary residence, capped at a $650 reduction per year.

The 2026 application deadline has passed, and the Treasurer’s page says the 2027 application opens in January 2027. It does not give a closing date, so the practical step for the next three months is getting ready: gathering income records and confirming the ten-year residency rule that gates the program.

A household that falls short of that rule is the one that most often finds out too late. Act 77 requires continuous ownership and occupancy of a primary residence in Allegheny County for the past ten years, and a homeowner who moved within that period still qualifies if the new property has been owned and occupied as the primary residence. Anyone 60 or older who has never applied needs to check both the income and the history.

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How the $30,000 line is counted

Gross household income must be $30,000 or less, but not every dollar is counted at face value. Only 50 percent of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income and Railroad Retirement Tier 1 benefits count toward the limit. Medicare benefits are excluded, and all other income, such as a pension, wages or interest, counts at 100 percent.

That rule changes the math for retirees. A couple receiving $24,000 a year in Social Security would count $12,000 of it, leaving room for another $18,000 in pension or other income before reaching the line.

Who is covered besides people 60 and over

The age test is 60 or older, or married with at least one spouse age 60, and the applicant must reach the required age by the end of the application year. The county also lists two other groups: widows and widowers aged 50 to 60, and permanently disabled people aged 18 to 60.

What approval brings besides the 30 percent

Approved households get a flat 30 percent off the county real estate tax bill on the primary residence, and the reduction stops at $650 a year. Two payment features are listed alongside it: paying county taxes in full by April 30 earns an extra 2 percent discount, and an installment option lets eligible taxpayers pay the gross county taxes in two equal payments, due April 30 and September 30.

Once approved, there is no need to reapply as long as the applicant still owns and occupies the home and income stays at or below $30,000. Income above $30,000, or a home that is no longer the primary residence, ends that standing arrangement.

Act 77 is not the same as the homestead exclusion

The same Treasurer’s page lists Act 50, the homestead and farmstead exclusion, as a separate program. Act 50 is a separate exclusion for primary residences with its own March 1 filing date, while Act 77 is the discount aimed at older, lower-income households. The page also points to the state’s Property Tax and Rent Rebate program, which covers Pennsylvanians 65 and older, widows and widowers 50 and older, and people with disabilities 18 and older, with an income limit of $35,000 for homeowners and $15,000 for renters, and half of Social Security income excluded.

For questions, the Treasurer’s office is in the Allegheny County Courthouse, Room 108, 436 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, and the phone is 412-350-4100. The open question for an Allegheny County household 60 or older is whether the ten-year history and the $30,000 count both hold when the January 2027 application opens.

Weighing Allegheny’s $650 senior discount against the income line?

A household that miscounts Social Security, or is off by a year on the ten-year ownership rule, can wait for the January 2027 opening only to find the $650 discount out of reach.

The Senior Property Tax & Home-Cost Relief Kit sets out the 5 kinds of property-tax relief, from income-tested discounts like Act 77 to the circuit-breaker credit that includes renters, and its application log and renewal calendar keeps each program’s income line, ownership history and filing month in one place.

Test the $30,000 income line against the Relief Kit’s application log →

More Financial Reading

• 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
• 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
• The New $6,000 Senior Deduction and 14 More Tax Moves for Retirees

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.