To the editor:
For 10 years now, taxpayers employed in the private sector in Pennsylvania have seen their school taxes escalate at a rate greater than their salary increases and the inflation rate. For 10 years, Harrisburg politicians have talked about property tax reform bills. In the end, gutless and corrupt politicians have managed to kill every property tax reform paraded in front of them.
Now along comes Pa House Bill 1776. It truly is a bill that can help out property owners, increase personal wealth and stimulate the economy at the same time. It proposes a tax shift away from the property-based school tax to a personal income-based tax. A modest 1-percent increase in the personal income tax and a 1-cent increase in the sales tax would be levied upon all taxpayers, thus ensuring that the cost of school funding is fairly distributed among all.
Tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians, who lose their homes each year because of school taxes, will be able to keep their homes. Property owners will be able to maintain their properties at the highest market value. A favorable environment for new and existing home sales, and business expansion will occur.
Pa House Bill 1776 deserves to be heard, discussed and voted upon on the House floor right now. Most Pennsylvanians are in favor of this bill. Yet in just 60 seconds of voting, the Pennsylvania House Finance Committee voted to table House Bill 1776 until September effectively killing any chance of it reaching the house floor before the November election.
The politicians who voted to table the bill are all up for re-election this November. They should be voted out and their constituents should phone or email their disapproval right now.
The names of these politicians are Kerry Benninghoff, Kevin Boyle, Tim Briggs, Margo Davidson, Madeleine Dean, Gordon Denlinger, George Dunbar, Eli Evankovich, Fred Keller, Duane Milne, Mike Peifer, Kathy Rapp, and Mario Scavello. Matt Gabler is just as bad because he sat on the fence and did not vote at all.
Paul Roscoe
Lancaster
