Sunday, August 26, 2012
A state House committee is expected to file a report on property tax relief measures by Nov. 30, examining municipal and school property tax rates and their cost drivers.
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Sunday, August 26, 2012
By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — State Rep. Nick Micozzie, R-Montgomery, served on a property tax committee around 12 years ago, he said. The committee also crafted a report to reform school property taxes. And then it failed to secure the votes on any legislation. He said he doesn’t see that changing this time either. “I think we’re going to spin our wheels a lot of times, like I have done over the years,” he said. Micozzie joined 12 other members of the House Select Committee on Property Tax Reform last week and heard the same arguments for property tax reform lawmakers made this past session, treading water until a new fiscal analysis comes out in the fall. The committee is expected to file a report on property tax …
Sunday, August 5, 2012
A "Mandate Study Task Force" is wrapping up a report on what can be done to ease state pressure on local municipalities in Pa.
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Sunday, August 5, 2012
By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania has thousands of laws, and about 6,500 of them tell local governments what to do. Local government officials often cite the “mandates” when they talk about out-of-control budget increases, about keeping the burden off the local property taxpayer. But state officials will consider ways to keep the mandates to a minimum, or even how much they’re telling local governments to spend. Pennsylvania municipalities launched on push back on mandates earlier this year. The state Senate this fall will hear proposed reforms from the Local Government Commission’s Mandate Study Task Force, a group made up of state lawmakers and municipal representatives. The commission is finishing up a report…
Monday, July 30, 2012
Pennsylvania lawmakers are trying to find a solution to the state's property tax issues.
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Monday, July 30, 2012
By: Eric Boehm | PA Indepednent HARRISBURG – Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Pennsylvania lawmakers are trying to find a solution to the state's property tax issues. The question that lawmakers have to weigh as they continue to bat around a proposal to eliminate school property taxes in Pennsylvania and replace them with higher sales and income taxes is this: Who wins and who loses? In an effort to offset more than $10 billion in annual revenue for school districts that comes from property taxes, lawmakers in the House and Senate have proposed a 1-percentage point increase for the state’s sales and income taxes, along with an expansion of the sales tax to do away with many of the exemptions in the tax code. The plan is revenue-…
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Lawmakers are considering a major shift in tax burden for Pennsylvanians
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Sunday, June 10, 2012
By Melissa Daniels/PA Independent HARRISBURG — Exchanging school property taxes for hikes in other taxes could come with a bigger increase in personal income tax for Pennsylvania wage earners than previously suggested. The House Finance Committee on Monday held a second public hearing on House Bill 1776, or the Property Tax Independence Act. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Jim Cox, R-Berks, aims to achieve the long-discussed goal of eliminating property taxes to fund public schools by creating increases in sales and personal income taxes, as well as the inclusion of previously untaxed goods and services. But new figures from the state Department of Revenue show a $3.5 billion gap between the estimated $12.5 billion earned by property …
Monday, June 4, 2012
Pa. tax relief from slots revenue varies by school district.
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Monday, June 4, 2012
By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Every dollar in the slot machine adds 55 cents to Pennsylvania’s tax revenue, contributing to the largest pot of gambling tax revenue in the nation. That means Pennsylvanians see more return from the gambling operations than any other state, including Nevada and New Jersey. But not all groups are satisfied with how that money gets returned, and growing competition from surrounding mid-Atlantic states is a potential threat to the revenue stream set aside to help property owners pay their tax bills. In Pennsylvania, gambling brought in a total of $3.02 billion in consumer spending in 2011. Of that, $1.456 billion was returned to the state in tax revenue, the highest of any of the states …
40.613445
-75.356806
Sands Casino
77 Sands Blvd, Bethlehem, PA
/articles/pa-gaming-revenue-highest-in-usa
871455
/locations/7143518
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Governor promised not to raise taxes but that means everyone else has to.
In 2014, Gov. Tom Corbett will no doubt campaign that he honored his pledge not to raise taxes during his first term. So far, that’s true -- he just made it so everyone else had to raise them. The screams of anguish and gnashing of teeth you might have heard this spring were school boards throughout the Commonwealth cutting teachers and programs and raising taxes to fill budget gaps. School boards have had to face property owners complaining about another tax increase in a weak economy, plus parents and students angry over program cuts and teacher layoffs. Remember, school board members are unpaid, and this year it’s got to feel like they volunteered to be crossing guards on I-78. Mind you, Corbett inherited a boatload of tough choices …
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Administration: Residents bear financial burden when commercial properties are under-assessed.
The Bethlehem Area School Board is considering the possibility of appealing appraisals of some large commercial properties in the district. Some commercial properties in the Bethlehem Area School District may be grossly underassessed, paying far less than their fair share of taxes, finance administrator Stacy Gober told members of the board finance committee Monday evening. She added this places a burden on residential property owners and small businesses and commercial properties, who must make up the difference. While “spot assessments” or targeting specific properties for reappraisal is prohibited, the district can set parameters and then look into all the properties that meet the designated criteria, said BASD solicitor Don Spry. A …
40.63293
-75.36088
Bethlehem Area School District Education Center
1516 Sycamore St, Bethlehem, PA
/articles/school-district-considers-scrutinizing-commercial-appraisals
870113
/locations/5815653
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
State Reps. Marcia Hahn and Julie Harhart will co-host a town hall meeting on Oct. 13 at Hanover Elementary School.
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Tuesday, October 11, 2011
State Reps. Marcia Hahn (R-Northampton) and Julie Harhart (R-Lehigh/Northampton) will co-host a town hall meeting on Oct. 13. The meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m., will focus on property taxes and will be held at Hanover Elementary School, 3890 Jacksonville Rd., Bethlehem (Hanover Township, Northampton County). "This event will offer those in attendance an opportunity to voice their concerns on the issue [of property taxes]," according to a press release from Hahn. A PowerPoint presentation that outlines some of the history of property taxes, and profiles the challenges in addressing the issue will be shown. State Rep. Seth Grove (R-York), co-chairman of the School Property Tax Reform Caucus, and State Rep. Doug Reichley (R-Berks/Lehigh…
40.669035
-75.401499
3890 Jacksonville Rd, Bethlehem, PA
/articles/town-hall-meeting-to-focus-on-property-taxes
/locations/5567119
Friday, October 7, 2011
Plan pitched to Lehigh Valley group would call for taxes on more goods and services
"Property taxes are killing the state's economy and its residents." No statement David Baldinger made Friday night could be stronger than that. Speaking before the Lehigh Valley Tea Party at the October monthly meeting at the Charles Chrin Community Center in Palmer Township, the administrator with the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition discussed the proposed elimination of property taxes. Baldinger, who considers himself the foremost state expert on property taxes, pulled out a Reading Eagle newspaper from August showing 1,086 tax sales just for Berks County alone. "If you multiply that by the 67 counties in the state, that's insane," he said, adding that he's served as an advocate of the proposal since 2004. Baldinger told the …
Wayne Schissler
6:41 pm on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Andrew said,"Your assertion that the value of the property is not an indicator of the owner's income is ludicrous." Then let me introduce you to the world were elderly people have to take in borders or rent their garages out to make ends meet. Where people can no longer manage and must consider a reverse mortgage. Where you inherit the home you grew up in but realize you would never be able to … more ›