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Senate Approves Bipartisan Property Tax Reform Plan
Measure Would Provide
Additional Relief for Seniors
HARRISBURG -- Seeking
to provide state taxpayers with property tax relief, and help seniors on fixed
incomes, the State Senate has approved a reform measure that would enable
communities to shift school funding dollar-for-dollar from property taxes to
earned income taxes, according to Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill
(R-Lebanon).
“This tax reform plan would
bolster the Commonwealth's existing Property Tax and Rent Rebate Program to
provide relief to an estimated additional 281,000 Pennsylvanians,” Brightbill
said. “And it does it in a way that recognizes the vast diversity of
circumstances that exist in school districts across the Commonwealth.”
Brightbill said the
Pennsylvania Taxpayer Relief Act has three major benefits to taxpayers:
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It provides the
opportunity for significant school real estate tax relief, beginning in
2006.
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It doubles the size of
the Property Tax and Rent Rebate Program for low-income seniors in
Pennsylvania.
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It implements the
backend referendum -- voter controls on future property tax increases -- in
every district across the state.
It would give school
districts the option to increase their Earned Income Tax (EIT) rate in exchange
for a reduction in their property taxes. Districts that do not elect to do so
would be required to place a referendum question on the 2007 ballot, to allow
taxpayers to authorize such an increase.
“Unlike other plans
proposed, that sought to increase the state personal income tax or increase the
sales tax, this measure gives local communities the first word in determining
whether to switch to a new school tax system and the last word in deciding on
future property tax increases,” Brightbill said.
He said this mandatory
“backend referendum” requirement is crucial to holding the line on school
spending because it gives taxpayers the power to reject tax increases that they
can't afford or think are excessive.
“By determining a school
district's mix of local taxes at the ballot box rather than in Harrisburg, the
Taxpayer Relief Act empowers taxpayers to make informed, involved decisions
about how their school districts raise revenues,” he said. “The measure would
give local taxpayers and officials the flexibility to reduce the reliance on
property taxes in favor of a system based upon ability to pay -- a system that
would benefit retirees and others on fixed incomes.”
Special Session House Bill
39 now goes to the House for consideration.
 
Brightbill
Background & Charts on Pennsylvania Taxpayer Relief
Act
President Pro Tempore Robert C.
Jubelirer (R-30), left, and Majority Leader David J. Brightbill (R-48),
right, at a Feb. 6 Appropriations Committee meeting on the
Pennsylvania Taxpayer Relief Act, which was approved by the Senate.
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