This website aims to make public the inequities within Pittsburgh’s property tax system. The findings it presents are the results of Sed Valorem, a project by Artist Harrison Kinnane Smith and Data Analyst Jordan B. Abbott. The Pittsburgh Property Tax Disparities website was created in collaboration with Urban Technologist Claire Gorman. The artworks of Sed Valorem will be on display at the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh’s contemporary, installation-based art museum, through April 10, 2022.

Sed Valorem and this website were made possible by the support of The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, and other Mattress Factory partners.

NOTE: The information on this website is presented for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice.

Harrison Smith (Artist) harrisonccksmith@gmail.com

Jordan Abbott (Data Analyst) jordan.abbott@gmail.com

Claire Gorman (Data Visualization, Web Designer) clairego@mit.edu

Avenancio-Leon, Carlos and Troup Howard, 2020. “The Assessment Gap: Racial Inequalities in Property Taxation” (Working Paper) Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

Berry, Christopher, 2021. “Reassessing the Property Tax” University of Chicago.

Montarti, Eric and Elizabeth Weaver, 2007. “Pennsylvania’s Property Assessment System Needs Change” Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (Report 07-07).

Rothstein, Richard, 2018. The Color of Law. New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation. 2018.

US Census Bureau. 2000, updated annually. Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 1977-2018. Compiled by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Washington, DC: Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (1977-2019). Date of Access: (3-Aug-2021).