Lancaster County House Republican Delegation Issues Statement on True Property Tax Reform
5/13/2015
HARRISBURG – The Lancaster County House Republican Delegation today voted in favor of legislation (House Bill 504) that would cut property taxes for all Pennsylvanians in its first year of implementation.
The Lancaster County Republican Delegation, including state Reps. Bryan Cutler (R-Peach Bottom), Dave Zimmerman (R-East Earl), Mindy Fee (R-Manheim), Keith J. Greiner (R-Upper Leacock), Dave Hickernell (R-West Donegal), Brett Miller (R-East Hempfield) and Steve Mentzer (R-Lititz), issued the following statement on the legislation:
“We are all strong supporters of school property tax elimination. In the last session, every member of the delegation stood shoulder-to-shoulder voting in favor of an amendment that would have brought House Bill 76, the Property Tax Independence Act, to an up or down vote before the full House. Regrettably, only 52 other House members joined us in voting for the Property Tax Independence Act and 102 votes are needed to pass a bill.
“Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan would actually lead to a net tax increase for the average homeowner in 404 of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts and cost taxpayers at least $8 billion. In Lancaster County, the average homeowner in 14 of our 16 school districts would see a net tax increase under Wolf’s wealth redistribution scheme. Most of the money from Wolf’s tax hikes would go to Harrisburg for billions of dollars in new spending, not tax relief.
“In contrast to the governor’s plan, House Bill 504 dramatically cuts property taxes for ALL Pennsylvania property owners, not just a select few. The measure would cut property taxes from 40 percent to 60 percent depending on their school district and has a built-in mechanism to ensure the tax cuts stay in place and suppress school property tax increases in the future.
“The legislation changes the state’s Personal Income Tax from 3.07 percent to 3.7 percent, and the Sales and Use Tax from 6 percent to 7 percent, without expanding it to cover items that are currently sales tax exempt. It ensures that every single dollar generated through these tax changes will be used to reduce property taxes. Not one dollar of new revenue would be kept by the state for additional budget items.”
Lancaster County House Republican Delegation
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Charles Lardner
717.260.6443