Apr 13, 2014 3 min read

Could the much hated school property taxes actually be eliminated in Pennsylvania?

Well, if state Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill has his way, they could be history.

Argall is sponsoring Act 76, also known as the Property Tax Independence Act. Under the bill, school property taxes would be eliminated by raising the personal income tax from 3.07 percent to 4.34 percent and taking the state’s sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent.

Many people have been complaining for years about funding schools through property taxes. It seems that school boards raise property taxes on a yearly basis, causing financial hardships for many homeowners. It also unfairly targets senior citizens, forcing some out of their homes where they’ve lived in for years.

However, the best part of the bill is that all the money from the personal income and sales taxes would be pooled and distributed equally among school districts across the state.

No longer would officials in wealthy school districts such as Upper St. Clair and Mount Lebanon be able to spend two or three times as much as school officials in low-income school districts such as Albert Gallatin and Brownsville Area can in educating their students All school districts and students would be on the same level playing field. That would certainly be a big help for most local school officials who simply can’t raise enough money through the property tax to properly fund the education of their students.

The bill had gained momentum in the state House of Representatives last fall with 90 sponsors signing on for the measure. It was definitely the furthest advocates of eliminating school property taxes had ever come.

But Republican leaders in the state House of Representatives had different ideas. They trotted out their own bill, passing the problem onto school boards, giving them the power to reduce property taxes in favor of unspecified higher taxes on residents and businesses.

Many were critical of the measure, noting most school boards would be loathe to deal with such a controversial measure. However, it passed 149-46 while Act 76 was defeated 138-59.

But the Republican bill hasn’t made much progress in the state Senate with Argall claiming it was dead on arrival. Meanwhile, he said 13 Republicans and 13 Democrats have signed onto Act 76. According to Argall, the bill could emerge from the Finance Committee and head to a vote in the next few weeks.

Then, it would be sent to the House, where Argall thinks it will get much more support than it did last fall.

The bill, though, has already attracted renewed opposition on both the right from the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and the left from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center.

There are concerns that the rise in the sales tax could hurt retailers, and the overall pot of money might not be enough to educate all students across the state.

It’s true that the bill, like any other legislation, isn’t perfect. It could probably be tweaked to make it more palatable to various interest groups.

In fact, local residents will have to watch the bill carefully as it winds its way through the state Legislature to make sure it’s something they can support.

Some people, though, seem to be against the bill just because they’re afraid of change. Indeed Act 76 would be a radical departure from the way the system currently operates. But for most local residents, that change can’t come soon enough.