Candidates discuss public pension plans, Act 76
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Democratic candidate for 52nd Legislative District of the state House of Representatives, makes a point during a recent editorial board session hosted by the Herald-Standard.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Democratic candidate for 52nd Legislative District of the state House of Representatives, makes a comment during a recent candidate forum sponsored by the Herald-Standard editorial board.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Democratic candidates for state representative of the 52nd District, (above, from top, down) Brad Geyer, Marigrace Butela and A.J. Boni, share their thoughts on contested issues during a recent Herald-Standard editorial board session.
The following is the third in a four-part series on the Democratic primary race for the 52nd District covering Fayette and Westmoreland counties.
Property tax reform and public pensions were on the table for discussion by A.J. Boni, Marigrace Butela and Brad Geyer, Democratic candidates in the May primary for the state House of Representatives.
The Herald-Standard editorial board asked the candidates about one proposal, House Bill 76, which was voted down in the state House last year but remains alive in the Senate and is being supported by Sen. David Argall. Under this bill, all tax money would go to the state, which would then give each school district the same amount of subsidy.
As the tax collector for Dunbar Township, Butela said the state needs to be careful because, she believes, the elimination of property tax could cause people to end up paying more in the long run.
“My concern is, if they do do this, what happens if they need more money because they don’t have enough? Are they going to raise the income tax up more? Are they going to put another penny on the sales tax?” she asked.
She said she also fears that counties, townships and cities may take advantage of it and raise taxes because people wouldn’t be paying property taxes any longer.
Geyer, a Connellsville city councilman, said legislators have to do something.
“My grandparents are 78 and 76 years old, and they pay somewhere over $2,000 for their school taxes. They don’t have any kids in school. They don’t have any grand kids in school. They have great-grandchildren in school, and when those bills loom over their heads, they get worried,” he said. “My grandma went back to work a part-time job in the fall to make a little extra money so they could pay their school taxes. There’s something wrong there. We’re not doing something right.”
He believes it should be more evenly distributed between income taxes and sale tax.
“Our seniors shouldn’t have to be burdened with these tax bills every fall,” Geyer said.
Boni, a Perry Township supervisor, agrees that something needs to be done for seniors.
“They’re on a fixed income,” he said.
The discussion then turned to public pension plans for state employees and public school workers, which some say are underfunded by about $40 million. Gov. Tom Corbett has proposed putting all new hires in 401(k) plans with sizable increases in employee contributions, while Democrats have proposed floating a bond to ease the shortfall.
Geyer said floating the bond is not the answer, saying it’s “switching debt from one can to another.”
He said the state needs to look at its investments to make sure the investment companies are handling the pension systems correctly and that they are yielding as much as they can.
“It’s definitely a crisis,” Boni said. “I think we need to pay our obligations. You have to pay your bills first before you create new bills. We’ve got to live within our means.”
Butela said that, for now, the state will probably have to float the bond.
She suggested money from a possible severance tax on the Marcellus shale industry that has been proposed by the Democratic candidates for governor could perhaps be allocated to alleviate the underfunded public pension plans.