School taxes are driving readers crazy: ‘I’m fed up’ vs. ‘an educated workforce is our only hope’

Readers, particularly senior citizens, are alarmed by rising school taxes. They’ve been writing in with their concerns, and also arguing that seniors and people without children shouldn’t have to pay school taxes.Others have pointed out the benefits of an educated public.Here are some reader reactions we’ve received in recent weeks:‘You want kids? You pay for their schooling’School taxes in the Lehigh Valley are a huge problem. I have no children and am 54 years old. It was my choice. I should not have to bear the financial burden of paying school tax.My burden is the same as a family with eight children. It is completely unfair to the point that it is blatantly obvious something is wrong here and nobody is doing anything about it.Seniors are losing their homes. The high schools and elementary schools are multimillion dollar state-of-the-art facilities with world-class swimming pools and sports facilities.Why can’t that be done in the private sector? Why do we have to pay for these luxurious amenities when they are not needed? It should be an educational facility, and that’s it. If you want these amenities, you should pay for it in a private school.You want after-school sports or swimming and country club facilities, then you pay for it. People with kids should pay far more than people without.You want kids? You pay for their schooling. It is as simple as that.Mark DiRomualdoLower Macungie Township‘I’d much rather pay school taxes than taxes for prisons’This letter is in response to Mark DeRomualdo’s letter titled, “You want kids? You pay for their schooling.” Mr. DeRomualdo, you obviously have forgotten why we have public schools, so I will condense it by saying it is to educate the future workforce.Without public schools, our future workforce would suffer, because most people can’t afford to send their children to private schools. And yes, a well-educated workforce requires an investment. I believe it would be safe to say that you benefit daily by having a well-educated workforce. Policemen, mechanics, nurses, cooks, waitstaff, cashiers, builders, plumbers, electricians, to name a few, all need to read, write and perform mathematics.Furthermore, an educated workforce is our only hope for a future that does not include massive poverty and the crime associated with it. I’d much rather pay school taxes than taxes for prisons.Lastly, because I come from a working-class family, my parents could not afford private school, so I’m grateful for my public school education. It was my only hope for a respectable future.Thank you school taxpayers.Louise DillensnyderEmmausSchool tax hikes may prompt reader to leave AllentownIt’s not that I’m against children getting an education in Allentown. The fact is I don’t have any children and yet have to deal with three years of increases in my school tax. This is insane.I have come to the conclusion that it’s time to pack up and move out of Allentown, which I’ve called my home for 62 years. Breaks my heart but it’s better than breaking my bank account.I’m fed up. Period. No relief in sight for me … yet others benefit.As cruel as this sounds, I’m sick of being stuck paying for something I never used.Susan JonesAllentownPeople without children also benefit from public schoolsThe idea that people without children have no responsibility for the education of children in general seems misguided to me. Those without children benefit from the education of the general population in profound and direct ways.It seems obvious that better-educated people will better support themselves and contribute more effectively to the economy and general well-being of their town, state, and country. I’d far rather live among a population with the sense of personal directedness, civic responsibility and empathy that a good education should bring — not to mention the ability to sift responsibly through the options in the voting booth. Sure, a formal education isn’t essential in every case for such qualities, but it should help among people in general.The number and nature of the amenities in public schools can be argued, as can the possibilities for relief for taxpayers who are overly strained.But no matter how you look at it, education costs money. And it’s in every citizen’s interest.John GroffAllentownSeniors can’t afford taxes for expensive public schoolsI had kids, and I paid school taxes. Now that my kids are grown I shouldn’t have to pay school taxes. I’m a senior citizen of the USA. My Social Security check doesn’t increase like a regular check.Schools are competing against each other to see who can have the biggest, most expensive school. We seniors cannot afford to pay for student luxury. Our bills, medications, doctor visits, etc. go up, and then the school district wants more money, too.Some of us have to make a choice on where to put our money; food for our body, medications, see the doctor, etc. or school/county/real estate taxes. Once we don’t have kids/grandkids living at our home, we shouldn’t have to pay school taxes. But then I’m afraid that the county taxes will go up and give some of the taxes to the schools.It’s a lose-lose situation for seniors and those without kids.Sharon ShaverSouth Whitehall TownshipFamilies with children should pay more in school taxesI believe in the “it takes a village” concept in reference to children. Everyone should contribute to the education of the children in their community.However, I also believe in equity. A person with no kids should not pay the same in school taxes as a family with five kids. There should be a minimum that all residents pay, which increases with each addition to the family. Conversely, your school tax obligation should be reduced as children reach the age of 18 and/or graduate from high school.This would be a fair and equitable approach to providing funding for schools and yet not over-burden those that have no or few children.Christopher BellAllentownState legislators should eliminate school property taxesI would like to commend state Sen. Mike Folmer’s view on school property taxes in Pennsylvania in the June 4 edition of The Morning Call. He is exactly right — it’s totally unfair for seniors to bear the burden of school taxes.Our state senator, Mario Scavello, is also a big backer of this reform. I want to thank both of them for their efforts to change this totally unfair tax.Matthew MatsinkoMoore Township‘Eliminating school taxes is not a tax cut’Eliminating school taxes is not a tax cut. It’s a massive tax shift to people who work for a living.We’ve known, like forever, that real estate taxes go up. They go up about the same as inflation. Property owners shouldn’t expect others to pay for this inevitable rise in taxes. If you bought too much house, please don’t pass that cost on to those who didn’t.Saying that you have no kids in school anymore is like saying you shouldn’t pay for highways you don’t use, or for unemployment comp when you are retired.It’s a community of people. Taxation should be measured across the entire community.Need something to shift taxes to? How about state lawmakers legalize and tax marijuana instead of trying to seize control of schools.Pete HanceUpper Macungie TownshipSchool taxes are too hard on senior citizensI read with great interest this morning the op-ed by state Sen. Mike Folmer. He had a lot of good ideas for alternative school funding and the ultimate dissolution of the real estate tax as the main source of revenue.In the recent election, a group of us voters in the Orefield, Schnecksville and Ballietsville area, in protest, did not vote for any of the Parkland School Board directors because of their stand on continuing the school real estate tax.This is ultimately an unsustainable way to fund the education system. Easy for the school boards/hard on the taxpayers, especially the senior citizens. There isn’t a day that goes by that there isn’t a letter in The Morning Call complaining about taxes, so this debate is not going away.The rebuttal from the Parkland administration is that we have one of the lowest millage rates. Great. So my home is worth more but I’m penalized by higher taxes.Bob JohnsonUpper Macungie TownshipNorthampton school tax hike is hard on property ownersHere we go again. During the last quarter of 2018, my insurance agent and my bank went through a great effort to find a homeowners policy that provided better coverage at a lower premium. The goal was to reduce the escrow outlay, thus reducing my mortgage payment and my expenses. After finally realizing my goal, the Northampton school district has just wiped out what I saved and added more by passing a budget with a tax increase.A number of property owners on fixed and limited incomes desperately need relief, compared to the amount of renters with children, who just got a large per-child tax deduction. Perhaps property owners should hire a good financial lawyer and pay taxes to be kept in escrow until this district reigns itself in.Pam CantabeneNorthampton
Source: Morningcall