|
People across Pennsylvania continue to voice their frustration with the Commonwealth’s inadequate and antiquated school property tax system. The voters’ rejection of the local tax referendum in May was another indication that the taxpayers of this state have had enough. The decisive defeat of the Act 1 tax shift referendum means that the Governor and the Legislature need to get more serious about this issue.
We need to ease the onerous financial burden of property taxes on our homeowners and enact meaningful and bold property tax reform that abandons the current system in Pennsylvania. From the Casey plan of the late 1980’s, to the Homestead Exemption and Act 50 of the late 1990’s, to Act 72 of 2004 and Act 1 of 2006, we have only taken tiny baby steps and delivered nothing to the taxpayers of Pennsylvania. That’s why I am once again working to develop a roadmap for the complete elimination of local school property taxes.
In recent weeks, I unveiled a new package of bills that eliminates school property taxes. My plan builds upon similar legislation that I introduced last year. Under Senate Bill 1041, school property taxes in Pennsylvania would be replaced by applying the current 6 percent sales and use tax to a broader range of goods and services including clothing. However, this proposal would still exempt food, medicine, health care expenditures, and many other items. The second component of this package is Senate Bill 1040 which would eliminate the authority of school districts to levy property taxes.
A shift in funding public schools primarily to the state would provide the ultimate property tax reform, which is the elimination of school property taxes. Furthermore, this shift would create an incentive for the state to reduce the unfunded mandates that it places on our public school system. Such a shift would also place heightened pressure on the General Assembly to control education spending while also improving academic performance. Under the current system, there is too great a temptation to pass new state programs that must be funded, at least in part, by local taxpayers. Elimination of school property taxes is vitally important, and in addition to that, we must go further and constrain spending.
The message that I hear from taxpayers all over Pennsylvania is: ‘eliminate school property taxes.’ The best way to replace them is by broadening the sales tax. My proposal not only rids us of the onerous school property tax, but by dramatically and boldly changing the way we fund public education in Pennsylvania offers the real prospect of equity, efficiency, and accountability in our education system. After casting votes for many tax proposals over the years, none of which have delivered significant relief, I’m confident that this plan will provide the kind of reform that is necessary to move Pennsylvania in the direction to completely eliminate property taxes.
The time has passed for window dressing approaches. Real, concrete reform is needed now. Real estate taxes are the most regressive of all taxes. We need a bold overhaul of our tax system in the form of total elimination of our school property taxes and replace them with a fairer, broader sales tax. My legislation will do just that. The people have made it abundantly clear: they do not want relief, they want elimination. It can be done.
|
