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The time has come to eliminate school property taxes in Pennsylvania. This burden has been a top frustration of people for far too long, yet efforts for reform have been elusive.
Each year, Pennsylvania taxpayers pay more than $8 billion in school property taxes. Property taxes are among the most regressive taxes imposed by government; they are assessed regardless of ability to pay. The current system is inadequate and antiquated with its heavy emphasis on the property tax. It makes no sense to continue to fund a 21st Century education system with a 19th Century tax.
Last week, I introduced legislation that calls for elimination of all school property taxes. My plan builds upon the good work done by the members of the Commonwealth Caucus, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives.
I have proposed reducing the current 6 percent Sales Tax rate to 5.7 percent and applying it to a broader range of goods and services, including food (excluding food stamp purchases) and clothes. Some Sales Tax exemptions are necessary. My plan includes a number of these exemptions, such as non-profits, rental properties, health services, prescription drugs, manufacturing, public transportation, and agriculture.
By reducing the Commonwealth’s Sales Tax, we can also improve our competitiveness, particularly since other states impose local sales taxes. The average Sales Tax rate nationwide is currently 6.73 percent, as 34 other states currently impose local sales taxes in addition to state sales taxes.
By shifting from a local school property tax to a state Sales Tax, state government will have a more vested interest in the performance and costs of schools. Additionally, shifting the lion’s share of the school funding burden to the state would make the Legislature majority shareholders in the public schools and force them to assess the mandates that are imposed.
As a result, this will give a greater incentive to the Governor and our General Assembly to eliminate onerous mandates on public education. This will also place the Commonwealth in a better position to address the inequities that may exist in the state with regard to school spending.
My plan will, however, maintain a degree of local control by still allowing local school districts to impose a wage tax. This ability is important so individual districts can still go above and beyond the benchmark of state funding to provide for the level of pupil spending that district desires.
Bold reform of our existing tax structure is necessary in order to abolish property taxes as a funding source for education. While these taxes have long been the principal source of revenue for public schools in the state, they do not accurately reflect a property owner’s ability to pay and unfairly burden our elderly homeowners and families living on fixed incomes.
Pennsylvania taxpayers have been clamoring for relief from the property tax for some time. My plan is workable, fair, simple, and will provide real relief from the burden of school property taxes.
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