Poll indicates voters hate local property tax the most
HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania voters despise their local property tax more than any other form of tax, according to a new poll. And, unless their lawmakers make changes soon, they could find themselves out of office. But at the same time, voters are skeptical that anything can be done to fix the problem.
The poll, released by Quinnipiac University on Thursday, found that 53 percent of voters think the local property tax “is the worst tax,” worse than federal income, Social Security, state and sales taxes.
“Now we can suggest how unhappy Pennsylvanians are about property taxes,” said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “The same question was asked nationally back in the ’90s by Gallup and property taxes tied with federal income taxes in the high 20s. So, you can see that it really is serious in Pennsylvania, and … that’s a lot of voters to be concerned about.”
Quinnipiac University recently surveyed 1,176 Pennsylvania registered voters for the poll. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent.
The Hamden, Conn.-based university is studying gubernatorial elections and campaign issues this year in Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut.
Voters in Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties, as well as other southwestern Pennsylvania counties, were the most outraged by local property taxes. In the region, 60 percent said it was the worst form of tax.
Lawmakers had better pay attention to the issue. Statewide, 85 percent of voters said property tax reform will be important in influencing their vote. And, 80 percent of voters across the state said the issue will be important when deciding which state Legislature candidates to vote for in November’s election.
The poll comes on the eve of what could be a historic effort by state lawmakers to reform property taxes.
A majority of legislators have signed a petition asking Gov. Mark Schweiker to convene a special legislative session to address property tax reform. Administration officials are reviewing the petition to see if it’s valid and could make a determination as early as Friday.
Under the state constitution, the governor is required to call a special session if a majority of legislators request one. This is the first time the Legislature has ever submitted such a petition.
A special session seems imminent. If Schweiker doesn’t convene one, both gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Ed Rendell and Republican Mike Fisher, have vowed to convene one if elected.
According to the poll, 49 percent of voters statewide would like to see the special session held before the election, but 41 percent want the session delayed until after the new governor is elected. In Allegheny County, 54 percent want the session held before and 35 percent want it held after the election. In other southwestern counties, 52 percent want it now and 40 percent want in later.
A majority of voters, however, don’t think the special session will do any good. Asked how confident they were that the Legislature would be able to come up with a fair property tax reform plan, only 38 percent statewide said they were confident that could happen, while 58 percent said they were not confident.
“The issue has been around for a long time and nothing has happened, so I’m sure that’s a good reason for their lack of optimism for something happening,” Richards said. “But they’re still very upset about the situation.”
Asked about solutions that could be used to lower property taxes, 49 percent of voters said they’d rather have the sales tax raised and 37 percent said they’d rather pay higher incomes taxes.
Most (76 percent) of the voters surveyed own their own home. Of the homeowners, 37 percent said the property taxes they pay are “much too high,” 25 percent said they are “a little too high” and 36 percent said they are “about right.”