Getting on the school property tax-relief bandwagon
The movement to finally deal with the maddening issue of school property tax relief in Pennsylvania is encouraging, but, don’t forget, we’ve gone down this road before, optimism ran high, but then politics claimed reform just as it has done many times in the past.
One of the encouraging signals that things might be different this time was Senate President Pro Tem Joseph Scarniti’s call for a vote on the issue. When legislative leaders speak, members listen. The bill and Scarniti’s pledge of support are steps in the right direction.
Individual legislators are climbing aboard the property tax reduction express. One of the latest is Sen. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe and Northampton. “Every week, we are in the Capitol is another week that citizens in my district, especially our seniors, are suffocating under the weight of ever-increasing school property taxes,” Scavello said. “Many individuals have reached out to me to say that school property taxes should be eliminated for all — I agree with them. I would vote for full elimination tomorrow; however, to date, those proposals have not had the votes to pass.”
When Scarnati was sworn in again to his leadership post earlier this month (January), he committed himself to shepherding the school property tax reduction bill on the Senate floor this session.
This pleased Scavello. “What I do regularly when we are in session is I get up and speak about school taxes and people hurting, especially seniors,” Scavello said. “I speak about specific stories from people in our community that have written to me and about the problems they are having.”
Scavello said he has spent more than 15 years supporting Senate and House of Representative bills to eliminate these taxes, but each effort has come up short.
This session, along with local Sens. John Yudichak, I-Carbon, and Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton and Lehigh, Scavello has introduced Senate Bill 805 and lined up some bipartisan support. “If I could single-handedly force change, I would,” Scavello said, but he noted that only 17 senators are on board; at least 26 are needed to pass the legislation. In the House, approval by at least 102 of the 203 members is required for passage, so there is still much legwork to be done.
Scavello described heartbreaking stories of constituents who have been taxed out of their homes, seniors who have seen large increases in their school property tax bills during their retirement, widowers who were forced to sell off all their possessions. Most dire, he said, are those cases of people taking their lives over losing their homes due to unpaid taxes.
“If we don’t have the votes for any of these specific bills, then we should at least do something for the seniors. We are all going to be seniors one day,” Scavello said. “I’ll support any bill that comes forward and helps people with property tax relief, any bill” he added.
Scavello’s bill proposes giving a tax rebate of up to $5,000 for all seniors 65 and older with an annual household income of less than $60,000. To pay for this, he proposed raising the state sales tax from 6 to 6.5%.
Rep. Maureen Madden, D-Monroe, said she is receptive to Scavello’s legislation, depending on details, and plans to introduce a similar bill in the House.
“We are all just trying to give relief to seniors,” she said. She cited the case of a Pocono Pines widow whose mortgage has been paid off and who is living off a monthly Social Security payment of $1,300 and pays property taxes of $6,500 a year to the Pocono Mountain School District. “Something has to be done.” Madden said.
Her legislation would provide a $2,000 rebate for homesteads and farmsteads to reduce or eliminate school property taxes for many. Her bill would set up a 0.98% surtax on the state income tax, taking it from 3.04 to 4.02%
Madden characterized her bill and Scavello’s as “Band-Aids” until legislators come to grips with the really tough job of making school funding equitable. She pointed out that 185 of the state’s 500 districts are underfunded. One of the prime examples is Panther Valley, which has really been hurt by funding inequities.
I reached out to Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill, who convened a bipartisan group of legislators to study this issue and which came back with five recommendations, but he has not responded to a request for comment on Scavello’s bill.
By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com
Comments
District consolidation make sense too.
No buying out!
Reduce the outlandish pensions.
With Social Security, school employees can make more when they're retired than when they were working. 100% of that money comes from people like those loosing their homes to tax default.
It's a crime.
School choice would make taxes go up (see my point about district consolidation) so that should make it a non-starter. But if the state were to go that direction I look forward to forcing all those little evangelical schools to admit gays, have gender neutral bathroom, ban prayer and teach birth control.
The Pilgrims fled England because they would face fines and imprisonment for failing to attend church services in the government church. You and the rest of the anti God left have that twisted and bent. Why would you force Christians with such? Your cheerleader, the confused girl becomes even more confused by "Joe".
God Help us.
It's all about money with you Joe?\
Do you think the system for funding the government indoctrination centers is fair? You like the way they extort?
The government can't interfere with personal religious practices, as you proposed in your post. Well, there is the exception of the extreme, such as human sacrifice, or a separation from our Federal/State/Local laws as we have in Sharia.
Realizing the conviction even the thought of God can bring upon the sinner, I understand the popular fear of Godly influence over the little ones, the children. Far be it to raise them on any absolutes. I need say no more. Just look at our public school system. Does it please you? Why is there no other choice? If I make that other choice, why am I forced to pay a property tax that funds the chaos I call government schools? Is that fair?
I disagree with much that goes on in the government school, but nobody cares about me. Oh, they'll care when I stop paying the extortion, and they'll proceed to take away my private property. But to folks like you, private property rights must mean nothing.
By the way, I'd favor doing away with the ill effects of the Johnson Amendment.
Privatize education. What we have is a circus, on my dime.
There already is competition.
Bullies get their way, teachers do as well, or they strike.
What people in power live there.
Now I'm confused. Like the corona virus, lunacy can spread.
Get Ready. We know he loves Communist regimes and may have meetings with them in the Oval Office. His Rallies will even get bigger and bigger. I recommend signing up early to get a seat.
One way to bring things around to sanity, is to turn this state RED!
Get out and vote.
Hope your trip is fruitful.
Pennsylvania has the 10th-highest local and state tax burden in the country, yet our PS quality (ROI) is ranked below average. Wolf will always throw money and support to the teachers. It's his way to pay them back for all that PAC money they provided him.
Working age homeowners realize a tax cut. The analysis finds that the increase in federal income tax (through lower itemized deductions), state income tax, and sales tax is more than offset by the reduction in property taxes. (Page 21)
Retired homeowners realize a significant reduction in taxes. The analysis finds that the property tax reduction easily offsets any increase from the higher sales tax. (Page 21)
The elimination of property taxes would significantly reduce the property tax share and would clearly increase the attractiveness of the Commonwealth for business location and expansion. (Page 25)
Eliminate the tax forever. I really don't care how much sales tax goes up. When the family budget gets strained, you simply cut back spending. That same budget under strain gets the school tax bill, and the family goes in to a tail spin. If the School Teachers are so concerned with the children, then stop putting families into tailspins through over priced, under quality education.
They get paid above average of any full time position, but their's is only part time.
https://www.salary.com/research/salary/
The IFO just gives numbers, no opinions. PTCC has been spreading lies saying the IFO said these things but they didn’t and all you have to do is check the pages referenced above and see what it actually says.
Fact: most businesses do not own real estate so this is BS. EVERY business group and chamber of commerce is against this bill.
Fact: increases sales tax and income tax makes consumption go down. When consumption goes down, people lose jobs.
Fact: housing market has never been stronger which flies in the face of these claims that real estate taxes are unaffordable.
HB76 is a garbage bill that would do a lot of damage. The last governors election was made a referendum on that bill and you see what happened.
And just take a look at the PTCC Facebook page some time to see what kind of people support it. They are about as hateful as they come. I get it, seniors don’t want to pay for kids to go to school even though that’s what paid for their schooling. Lots of trade offs..how about you don’t complain about a few thousand in school tax and we workers won’t complain about the Hundreds of thousands in tax dollars going to a PTCC leader for their medical care