The House Finance Committee will vote June 11 on whether to send the Property Tax Independence Act (House Bill 1776) on down the line according to the bill’s sponsor Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).
A hearing on the bill was held yesterday, June 4.
The bill is the only legislation before the House that would completely replace school district property taxes.
Cox noted that farmers are now supporting the bill.
The Property Tax Independence Act would replace school property tax funding for schools across the Commonwealth with new state revenues. The bill would provide the same level of funding for schools across Pennsylvania as they currently receive through school property taxes.
The legislation would use an increased state Personal Income Tax and an enhanced and expanded state sales tax to replace school district property tax revenues. The income tax would rise from approximately 3 percent to 4 percent. The sales tax would be enhanced from 6 percent to 7 percent. Several special interest loopholes in the sales tax also would be closed, Cox said.
“Switching to income and sales taxes for school funding provides the obvious benefits of spreading the burden of public education to all who benefit from the investment, not just landowners,” said Joel Rotz, director of state governmental relations with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, in his prepared testimony before the committee. “It also better reflects [the] ability to pay based upon income and the sale of items consumers choose to purchase.”
“The Pennsylvania State Grange has supported elimination of the property tax for many years,” said Betsy Huber, who serves as legislative liaison for the organization, in prepared testimony delivered to the committee. “The Grange supports taxation for our public schools based on an income tax and/or sales tax that are based on ability to pay.”
Not all testifiers supported the proposal. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, a liberal think tank based in Harrisburg, came out in opposition to the Property Tax Independence Act. Michael Wood, the center’s research director, testified before the committee that, because the school district property tax only forces approximately 10,000 Pennsylvanians out of their homes each year, replacing it was unjustifiable.
For additional information about the Property Tax Independence Act, including a complete list of items that would be subject to the expanded state sales tax, constituents should visit www.RepJimCox.com.
