South Eastern Tax Reform Coalition (SETRC) is one of 26 members of both the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayers Associations (PCTA) and the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition (PTCC).  The PCTA is dedicated to the support of House Bill 1275, the School Property Tax Elimination Act, legislation that will abolish school property taxes in Pennsylvania and will equitably replace a broken education finance system.  Property taxes WILL be debated again before the legislative summer break.

In late March 2008, the PTCC and PCTA asked homeowners to send us their real-life stories telling how relentlessly increasing school property taxes are affecting their quality of life.  These stories demonstrate that halfway measures like HB 1600 will not get the job done - ONLY elimination will do.  You can read “the real faces of the school property tax issue” at http://mysite.verizon.net/drbsr/PTCCWeb/stories.htm

P.S. For more info on HB 1275, see http://mysite.verizon.net/drbsr/PTCCWeb/solution.htm

I think we all share the same story. We get taxed, we pay, then the taxes are raised. Wash rinse and repeat.

Cuteness aside it is the beginning of difficult times for many if not already there. It would not be so bad or dramatic if everything else was not going up at the same time. Just the oil/gas thing alone is really starting to show across the board. Look around you and imagine one thing that would not be without gas/oil being involved at some point.

As for taxes, my story is the same as most I would think. What I do see happening is that at some point the the tax base is going to be taxed out of the area. I understand the need for taxes, its fair and I dont mind paying fair taxes. Increasing them to make up for lost tax opportunities only works so far until the bottom falls out and the remaining tax base (people) wont be able to cover the deficit no matter how high the rate goes. I wonder how close we are to that breaking point.

would school taxes be as much an issue if fuel wasn’t pushing $4 a gallon for gas and $3 a gallon for heating??

Yes, they’ve been an issue on this site alone for much longer than the gas prices have been high.