A house divided: Failed tax measure hurts many

It's a house divided. Actually, it's the Senate, and they were split 50-50.

The Pennsylvania Senate rejected a measure Monday night to eliminate billions of dollars in school property taxes statewide by replacing the funds with increases in state tax rates on sales and income.

The preliminary vote on Senate bill 76 ended in a tie 24-24. But Lt. Gov. Mike Stack voted against the bill to break the deadlock.

The disappointment for many local residents is very real. We live in an area of low salaries and a disproportionate number of elderly homeowners. Many are being forced out of their modest homes due to unaffordable taxes.

In some cases, people need to make a choice between paying for their prescriptions and food, or paying their school district taxes. The issue has been fomenting for years. Nobody has been more vocal in calling for common sense and fairness than Sen. David G. Argall, R-Schuylkill/Berks, sponsor of the bill.

"While this legislation did not gain enough votes to pass the Senate today, the problem of ever-rising school property taxes does not go away," said Argall, who criticized Gov. Tom Wolf for calling the issue "a distraction."

"I don't think the people who are losing their homes due to school property taxes would call this issue a 'distraction.' I've got news for the governor and the lieutenant governor who voted against us: we are not giving up," declared Argall.

He's a Republican who worked on the issue with bipartisan support.

Democratic Sen. John Yudichak, a co-sponsor of the bill, agrees with the bill's intent.

"Although imperfect, Senate Bill 76 would have begun the necessary work to end Pennsylvania's reliance on an antiquated property tax system that overburdens our senior citizens, underfunds our schools and restrains economic growth," Yudichak said.

The fight will go on, and fittingly so.

Pennsylvania's approach to funding education is obsolete, unfair and a disaster for homeowners. For many, real estate taxes assessed by school boards have reached the point of being unaffordable.

Truth is, property owners in Pennsylvania are forced to turn their homeownership over to their local school board.

It shouldn't be that way. Not in Pennsylvania. Not in America.

The current approach to taxing real estate is so profoundly wrong that it's no longer a matter of taxes, nor even of education. It's a matter of people's lives, health and the roof over their heads.

While it's true that some of the finer points of Senate Bill 76 might not have been perfect, the bill itself was far more acceptable than the status quo.

News of the defeated bill just before Thanksgiving was disheartening to many.

Pennsylvania's approach to school property taxes is too costly on too many levels.

The system is horribly broken.

It needs to be fixed before homeownership becomes a thing of the past.

By Donald R. Serfass | dserfass@tnonline.com