By now, I’m sure you know that the Act 1 tax shift referendum was defeated statewide. Districts rejecting: 494. Districts approving: 4.
Now it’s time to take the next step towards school property tax elimination.
Act 1 has now failed in achieving three of its four major provisions.
* The backend referendum, which was supposed to allow voter approval on tax increases greater than an inflation-indexed maximum, failed when 210 Pennsylvania school districts were granted exceptions to the referendum by the PA Dept. of Education.
* Even though one-time casino licensing fees of $50 million were collected from a few casinos to boost the pot, there was still no “relief” from gaming money available this year.
* The tax shift referendum was resoundingly defeated.
The defeat of the referendum indicates one thing only: That the voters of PA recognized the worthlessness of this law and wanted to send a message that real reform is needed.
The legislature, because of the defeat of the Act 1 referendum, is vulnerable right now. We MUST let them know that we will hold them accountable during the 2008 elections for their performance on true property tax reform. We MUST send the message that we want school property tax ELIMINATION and no more halfway measures.
Please begin writing, calling or e-mailing Rep. Stan Saylor () and Sen. Mike Waugh () NOW to let them know that you will no longer tolerate their foot-dragging on this issue. Tell them that you support the Plan for Pennsylvania’s Future to achieve this goal.
If you feel particularly ambitious, write to the Governor and other state lawmakers as well. You can e-mail Rendell by going to: http://www.governor.state.pa.us/governor/cwp/view.asp?a=3&q=437853&governorNav;=| You can find other legislators’ contact information at: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/index.cfm. Enter the Zip+4 in the box in the upper right corner of the page and follow the link that will be provided.
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More On The Sales Tax Scam! The Governor is still pushing his plan to increase the sales tax by one percent and use a small portion of this increase for property tax rebates; the remainder would go to the general fund to finance increased spending.
The amount of the rebate per homeowner that was originally announced is about $180.
The average family of four in Pennsylvania spends about 15% of their income on taxable items. You can do the math for your income level, but here’s one example: For a family with a $50,000 annual income, about $7500 is spent on taxable goods. A 1% increase in the sales tax would cost that family an additional $75 each year. Assuming a gross rebate of $180, you would get a net rebate of $105. That will buy you a couple of tanks of gas. How insulting!
Please, Governor Spendell...oops, I mean Rendell...don’t give us this kind of tax “relief”. We can’t afford it!
