Decision delayed on ballot question
BELLE VERNON – Frustrated with legislation, Belle Vernon Area School Board President Aaron Bialon challenged the system concerning tax-shifting referendum questions the state is requiring appear on spring ballots. Not a champion of Act 1, state legislation requiring school districts to ask voters if they favor imposing an additional earned income tax or converting the school’s current earned income tax to a personal tax, Bialon recommended the board question legislation and find out what, if any, repercussions exist if a school board would vote down both questions.
The board was supposed to vote Monday evening during a public hearing as to what question would appear on the ballot.
The state is mandating either of the following questions to go before voters: “Do you favor imposing an additional one percent or 1.7 percent earned income tax? The revenue generated from the increased tax rate will be used to reduce taxes on qualified residential properties by $305 or $518. The current school district earned income tax rate is .5 percent, and the current combined municipal/school district rate is one percent.” Or: “Do you favor converting the school district’s current earned income tax to a personal income tax at .80 percent or 1.40 percent? The revenue generated from the increased tax rate will be used to reduce taxes on qualified residential properties by $298 or $521 and to replace the revenue from the school district’s current earned income tax. The current school district earned income tax rate is .5 percent.”
Bialon said the questions were unfair to the taxpayers and asked the solicitor to look into the repercussions of the board voting down both questions.
“This is a problem not only for the board, but for all taxpayers,” he said. “We’re here as elected officials to look out for your best interest.”
The state required school districts to form tax study commissions last year to determine whether or not to shift the taxes or do nothing. Like the majority of districts, Belle Vernon chose to make no change to their tax structure. That decision was based partly on the discovery that 85 percent of the taxpayers in the school district would not benefit from the tax shift.
Director James McKevitt, who also chaired the tax study commission, explained that none of the money would go to the school district, but only to qualified tax recipients.
Director Mike Gigliotti noted that the district would still receive gambling revenue even if taxpayers voted down the tax shift.
“If you want a voice, you need to look for (the question on the ballot),” he added. “If you leave it to someone else to vote, you may be surprised at the outcome.”
Not as board president, but as a fellow taxpayer, Bialon encouraged voters to vote down the legislation.
“If they penalize me for doing the right thing, so be it,” Bialon commented on the board’s decision. “I leave it for debate. Hopefully answers will be delivered.”
The board continued the meeting until 6 p.m. March 12 to give the solicitor time to investigate any repercussions.