Apr 1, 2018 2 min read

Since the 24-24 tie vote in the state Senate in 2015 to eliminate school property taxes through HB76/SB76, lawmakers in Harrisburg have continued to drag their feet.

We, the property owners, continue to pay more and more each year, so why does this “regressive” tax burden continue to stay on the same path?

One reason comes to my mind: leadership. Over the last 20 years, words like “reform” and “reduce” were tossed around. One of the most misleading “fixes” was revenues generated by gambling. In 2004, it was sold to the people by the governor that the revenues generated by gambling would give relief from the school taxes, but it never really gave the relief expected. So property owners continue to deal with increases year after year. The sad part of this regressive tax is the school district has the power to take your home, whether you lose you job, a family member gets sick and cannot generate income, or a senior citizen on fixed income cannot keep up with those increases.

Back in November, we the people were asked by Harrisburg through a voter referendum the question: yes or no to change the constitution to increase the homestead exclusion up to 100 percent elimination. The question has been answered yes, so now it is time for Harrisburg to fix the problem with the antiquated property tax system once and for all.

Mark Dodson

Carnegie