Property tax amendment headed to the ballot box

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A plan offering the potential of property tax relief for Pennsylvania homeowners through an amendment to the state constitution will be placed on the November ballot. For more than three decades state legislators have been debating a way to bring property tax relief to homeowners.

The state Senate voted 46-2 on Tuesday to approve the measure allowing for a ballot question to go to voters. Lawmakers in both the state Senate and state House have now approved the measure in two consecutive legislative sessions, a necessity for an amendment to the state constitution.But some advocates who have been pining for property tax relief say it isn’t the remedy they have long desired, writes Beth Brelje for the Reading Eagle.


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The measure, known as the Homestead Exclusion Amendment, would allow local taxing bodies — school boards, municipalities and counties — to exclude up to 100 percent of the median assessed value of a home from taxation. Essentially, the town, county or school board choosing this option wouldn’t collect property taxes from homeowners.

Instead, local governments or school boards opting for this plan would implement an earned income tax or personal income tax in lieu of this property tax, said state Rep. David M. Maloney Sr., a Pike Township Republican and prime sponsor of the bill. The local governing body would set the income taxes at whatever it would take to replace the property tax revenue.Currently, local governments can exclude up to 50 percent of the medium assessed value of a home. But that option has not been widely adopted.

To read the complete story click here. 

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