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For Immediate Release
March 18, 2009
Contact: Sally Kohr
(717) 787-4651

Op-Ed: Senator Alloway Supports Property Tax Elimination

Each year Pennsylvanians pay about $10 billion in school property taxes. In most of the state’s 500 school districts, this regressive tax rises annually and strikes hardest at senior citizens on fixed incomes, homeowners with low incomes and those who have lost their jobs.

The General Assembly has made several attempts over a period of decades to enact school property tax reforms, the most recent being Act 1 of 2006, which few districts implemented to its fullest extent. 

I have joined with Sen. Jeffrey Piccola and other members of the Senate as a co-sponsor of two pieces of legislation aimed at eliminating local school districts’ reliance on property taxes as the major source of education funding. The first, Senate Bill 71, would broaden the state’s sales tax to offset the revenue that would be lost by eliminating the school property tax, as called for in Senate Bill 71. 

Senate Bill 70 provides for a progressive tax which puts you, the taxpayer, in control of how much you will pay in school taxes based on your own choices of what you buy and your ability to pay. Those who choose more expensive goods and services would pay more taxes, while those who, for example, choose a $50 pair of sneakers over a pair costing $150, would pay less. 

At the same time, a number of necessary products and services will remain exempt from the sales tax. These include - but are not limited to - food, prescription medicines, dental and doctor visits, public transportation and veteran and charitable organizations. 

By broadening the tax, the state could also reduce it from the current 6 percent to 5.7 percent under this legislation. 

In my travels around the 33rd District this has been, by far, the number one concern for taxpayers. For decades there has been a lot of talk and little or no action on property tax reform, and these bills could provide a sensible solution. 

This is a starting point and it might not be perfect, so I welcome input from the taxpayers. Anyone with comments, concerns or ideas about these proposals can e-mail me at Alloway@pasen.gov.

Richard Alloway II
Senator