Eliminate the Property Tax

School funding has reached a crisis point as have our property taxes. We need to come up with a real solution that maintains excellence in education while putting real spending limits in place and evenly distributing the tax burden for education funding. Let's work together to come up with real solutions! This website is designed to raise issues, throw around ideas, and gather the necessary resources to solve the problem!

Here in Pennsylvania, specifically in Muhlenberg Twp, we are literally backed into a corner. We are sandwiched between 4% a year tax increases and our Governor, Mr. Ed, who is all too willing to take over the entire education system (which BTW is what act 72 is really all about) so he can implement his new world order education plan on the state of Pennsylvania.

Now if you haven't thought much about what implication 4% a year property tax increases will mean to you, the chart below should make the point quite clear.

Current Property Tax	Per Month Cost	Property Tax in 10 Years	Per Month Cost
3000	250	4200	350
6000	500	8500	708
8000	666	11,300	941
10,000	833	14,200	1183

If you live in a very "modest" priced house, your current property tax is on the low end, until reassessment happens that is. If your somewhere in the middle of the pack, say the $6000 a year current property tax, you will soon be taking on a second mortgage, one for you mortgage and one for your property taxes. Now assuming your current job gives you a "minimum" of a 4% increase guess what, with the cost of inflation and gas you loosing. Most of us don't average this increase every year and senior citizen's are particularly under the gun so to speak due to their fixed income. The bottom line, like healthcare costs, something must be done and must be done immediately! Andy Rooney had an excellent recent editorial on his experience with healthcare costs!

Perhaps the greatest problem we have in America today is apathy. Some say of elected officials "they will get you anyway they can" and use that as an excuse to ignore the problem. Others are simply too "busy" to be bothered and refuse to get involved. I found this poem written by a pastor under the Nazi's which I felt was applicable. Please note that I am in no way comparing the school board to the Nazi's, it is the attitude that is applicable and we need to learn from history. If we refuse to get involved, the problem will eventually effect us, maybe even in the loss of our property!

First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

For starters, we MUST educate our children, this is a reality and thus the money has to come from somewhere. I don't think anyone would logically argue this point. I think the argument comes from the COST of education. What costs? Well we need to bus our kids to the schools, pay the teachers, pay for the electricity, water, heat, air conditioning, trash removal, subsidized lunches, maintenance, extracurricular activities like sports, band, and various clubs. We must pay our administrative staffs as well. Again, I don't think that logically, anyone is going to argue that these are "necessities" which need to be paid for. Now some people are going to argue teachers salaries but I refuse to limit anyone's salary since I don't want my salary limited! The only salary limits I would like to see would be increases which are well above industry standards, which in today's world would be above 5-6% a year. All of these costs would be considered operating costs.

Now, if operating costs were all that was part of the equation, I think we would have few fellow taxpayers out there arguing about our taxes. However, like healthcare, it is the excessive spending and waste which brings most people's blood to a boil. Now to interject here before I continue, if nothing is done to curb the cost of education, and especially the cost of healthcare, one can only conclude that the only two scenario's will be a future of substandard education and healthcare or a future where only a certain class of people have access to quality education and healthcare.

So what would I as a taxpayer consider "excessive" spending? I have made a short list below which is a work in progress. The short list includes:

1. Building projects which the majority of taxpayers are against such as new schools where the current school is still viable and new sports complexes.

2. Salary increases for teachers and administrators which are out of line with industry standards.

4. Excessive emphasis on funding sports programs including excessive coaching staffs, facilities, and equipment.

5. State and federally mandated requirements on the local school district which are completely unrelated our children's education such as No Child Left Behind.

I want to re-emphasize the fact that the goal here is to solve problems, not bitch or point fingers. I invite both taxpayers, teachers, administrators, and school board members to add as much input as they like, even correcting anything that has been said here that is inaccurate. Working together will solve problems. Division only leads to confusion! Trust, which is lacking between taxpayers and school administrators, can only be built by communication.

Now, from a taxpayer's perspective, I have made a short list of those items which we would like to see happen in the very near future.

The school board has real issues to deal with as well. I have made a short list of these real issues which have been communicated to me by one of the board members. These include:

1. On average it costs about $8,000 per child per year to educate your child.

2. State funding of local schools has dropped from 50% thirty years ago to 20% today.

3. Federally mandated programs like No Child Left Behind and Individuals for Disability Education Act go largely unfunded with the local school district left to fund the mandates.

4. The retirement bill forces local school districts to kick in 25% more money for teachers retirements that two years ago.

5. An average of 4.2% salary increase for teachers and administrators this year.

7. Same Electric, Natural Gas, Water, and Sewer, increases everyone else is feeling

There are three alternative plans I am aware of proposed to fund our local schools besides the property tax. These are:

I will give a brief overview of each plan, it's pro's and cons, and who benefits the most from each plan.

Act 72 is uncle Ed's proposal to fund local school districts by decreasing the property tax by 15-30% and increasing the income tax by 1.5% plus using "funny" money from gambling which is a great example to our children. Simple math will show that in most instances the increase in your income tax will be greater than the reduction in your property tax with no plan to cap property tax increases. This plan, if you can even call it a plan, was voted down for obvious reasons although those without any income such as senior citizens would stand to benefit most from the plan.

Next is the Commonwealth Caucus which plans to eliminate the property tax (sort of) and make up the difference by expanding the sales tax to food and clothing and reducing the sales tax to 5%. For starters, only the school tax would be eliminated, not the county tax, keeping the whole assessment machinery in place. Second, the tax burden would shift to those who consume the most, which are the lower middle class. Third, it eliminates property taxes for corporate properties which some perceive is a windfall for the rich. Good for senior citizens, singles, and the wealthy, bad for big families, renters, and the lower middle class.

Third is the plan proposed by STOP. The STOP plan will eliminate ALL personnel property taxes (both county and school). The corporate property tax would remain with the difference made up with a 1% increase in the sales tax (not expanded) and a 1 1/2% increase in the income tax. This plan benefits seniors since they have no income tax, benefits the middle class since the increase in income tax is far less than their current property tax, and has minimal damage on the poor since the sales tax is not expanded to necessities.

Alternative taxes to make up any difference in each plan could include increased taxes on fuel, which by 2001 statistics Pennsylvania uses 31 millions gallons per day total or tax all energy which would greatly expand the amount of revenue generated. There is a great balancing act between taxation and the effects on the economy so any plan we pursue needs a study to back up it's viability in maintaining excellence in education, it's ability to provide the necessary school funding, and the provision of property tax relief while creating an environment for economic growth.