‘There needs to be a cap’: Readers react as school tax elimination back in play in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania State Sen. David G. Argall, a Schuylkill County Republican, said Friday legislative discussions are likely this summer on eliminating the school property tax, long a mainstay of public school funding.Property taxes have contributed to about a third of public school revenue for the last decade, the national average landing at 36% for the 2015-16 school year, which is the latest year of data available from the National Center for Education Statistics.The federal budget contributes a minuscule amount: 8 percent in that year, leaving the lion’s share to state and local governments.Eliminate Pennsylvania school property taxes? Expect fresh debate after new bills go out in JulyStates vary widely in their reliance upon property taxes. In Pennsylvania, property tax revenue makes up 44% of public school revenue, but the chunk of the pie is as low as 13% in New Mexico and as high as 60% in Illinois, according to the NCES.Argall said discussions in Pennsylvania could come in July and August, after school property tax bills totaling more than $14 billion statewide are issued after the July 1 start of the fiscal year.Discussions to repeal or replace the tax have been around for decades, proposing the billions in lost revenue be replaced by a variety of increases of other taxes.Should Pennsylvania eliminate school property taxes? https://t.co/Uu9ZrSOHtM— The Morning Call (@mcall) June 11, 2019The last vote on one of those measures took place in 2015, but a 24-24 tie was broken by a negative vote by then-Lt. Gov Mike Stack.The pending discussions have led to strong reader reactions across social media.Reader Anne Kurtek wrote, “They could have done something years ago but never did. What they should have done was made it affordable for everyone. Not raise them so high that no one can afford them.”Tyler Klein wrote, “I think school taxes are okay but there needs to be a cap. There’s no incentive for administration to budget correctly when they can just give themselves raises and pass it onto taxpayers.”Colleen Doyle Tomko said, “It would not eliminate tax, it would shift tax to goods and services, essentially costing those with the least disposable money the most.”Twitter reactions also streamed in, with readers suggesting Pennsylvania legalize recreational marijuana and use the revenue to offset the cost of school taxes. Another suggested Pennsylvania privatize public schools.Privatize public schools. Let the market sort it out.— Karl Rojeck (@BossHijack) June 11, 2019Proponents point to property taxes as a funding source more consistent and reliable than federal discretionary funds ― subject to frequent cuts ― and state budgets. But a high reliance on property tax has drawn criticism for benefiting some school districts inequitably based on the affluence of the area, and for burdening the elderly with high tax bills relative to their limited income.States such as North Carolina have sought to address the first criticism by allocating state funds to account for differences in property wealth. In 2016-17, state funds contributed to two-thirds of the school districts’ revenue stream. Property tax revenue supplements the budgets, but since not all funding is equal, the state allocates additional supplements to low-wealth counties. Pennsylvania lawmakers have floated other suggestions, such as allowing more districts to take advantage of property tax relief systems like the homestead and farmland exclusion.In Illinois, where the share of revenue generated by property taxes is the highest, economic policy researchers suggest shifting reliance onto the individual income tax and sales tax, and even legalizing and then taxing recreational marijuana. In Colorado, marijuana tax revenue generated $90.3 million toward the education department in the fiscal year 2017-18.Wyoming has made itself a rare case, being a state with one of the smallest student populations but ranking in the top five with how much it spends on each student. Where average spending per student is less than $12,000 nationally, Wyoming spent $16,400 per pupil in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.Its funding model redistributes some property tax revenue from well-off districts to struggling districts, though spending gaps remain.
Source: Morningcall