Election Update: Tax Break Numbers Reflect Hoped For Slots Money In Second Year

Nextrush ^ | 5/13/07 | Self

[Nextrush]

..........A lot of hype in yesterday's "Sunday News" about the new school taxes including the amount of the second year property tax breaks that some school districts are promoting ahead of the May 15th income tax votes.

Those tax breaks will be coming because of expected slots money, not paying the new income taxes. There's an important reason the property tax breaks were being sought by referendum this year. Political pressure from older retired property owners. The politicians needed the votes of these people who show up in big numbers....

So they (Ed Rendell and the legislature) crafted Act 1 last year to get the money moving this year ..... The politicans hope to con older people into supporting the quickie tax break while shoving the burden onto the younger people who collect paychecks although many retirees would be subject to the new income taxes, too. That's because they're working and collecting paychecks.......

The recent joke meeting involving local legislators and school board members about "school funding" at Central York School District's administration building wsn't worth the time of day. They all talked about "funding" and "costing out." Those are just code words for the next tax scheme to be dumped on us to pump money into the public education machine.

Yes, there was some talk about cutting building costs, but no talk about cutting money for salaries and benefits. That's frankly because the Public Education Establishment (PEE) (which embraces most elected officials including school board members, plus union forces in education led by the Pennsylvania State Education Association) isn't going to cut the biggest spending item (salaries and benefits for school employees). The PSEA union has bought most of our legislators and has its own members and their families-supporters serving on school boards everywhere.......

[Nextrush]

Pennsylvanians vote on new school income taxes in a "tax shift" that would give some property taxpayers some of their money back. It would also mean a lot of us would get a tax increase with our new income taxes.

This Act 1 law has a bad smell to it. Its part of a game that keeps the money flowing into schools because of the political power from the public education insiders like the National Education Association-Pennsylvania State Education Association, etc.

[Glenn]

What slots money? What tax relief? I haven’t seen a dime of relief.

[Kay Ludlow]

And why do I only get a tax break if I tell the government exactly which of my properties I live in?

They’ve been trying to get us to register where we live for years, through 911 addressing (the county sends out cards asking for the names and ages of everyone living there, for our ‘protection’), then the $100 rebate if you filled out the form attesting to where you lived, now it’s that you’re only getting the property tax cut IF you register your homestead.