Read the full article to understand how spot assessments selectively hit some taxpayers hard.
Christine Joyce’s latest property tax bill has dashed her dream to move from an old house with a tiny kitchen to a brand-new place in the country with a big yard.Joyce and her husband, who live in Pottsville, were planning to build a house on land they bought in 2005 near the Blue Mountain ridge in East Brunswick Township. But the Blue Mountain School District is demanding $795 in property tax on the parcel this year, nearly double what the couple paid the previous year and almost $150 higher than the tax bill for their home.
‘‘These school taxes doubled with nothing on the land,’‘ said Joyce, 38, a registered nurse. ‘‘When the house is built, they’ll be astronomical.’‘
property taxes are outrageous
and unequally applied in PA. Something needs to be done. The overbuilding that was allowed did nothing to lower taxes, as promised by townships.
Wages in PA did not increase at the same rate as property taxes, but other expenses did. The gaming rebate of about $190 for the year – does not help the extra $1800 per year increase in the last 4 years.
Additional rebates or tax payment deferments should be offered for those experiencing financial crisis and unemployment – and are unable to sell their home due to the lousy housing market.
The PA legislature “Slush fund” would go a long way to helping ease the Property Tax issues in PA.
The root cause of
The root cause of needlessly high property taxes is the teacher’s union. It controls the schools, and controls the election of nearly all school board members.
In the whole state, very few school board members can vote “no” on tax increases and get re-elected.
And, too many board members have relatives in public education.
System broken. Need vouchers. Anything else is just a sham to prolong the fraud.
Property tax
We must replace the current residential property tax with a graduated income tax as 43 other states have already implemented. Senator O’Pake has a bill in some committee but the Republicans will not release it.. Most elder residents cannot afford the current way schools and counties are funded – it must change an soon or I believe we will have a revolt and many senators and state representatives will lose their jobs in Harrisburg. Why doesn’t someone get this issue moving ??- it has been a concern for many years.
The devil you know
There have been many attempts at property tax reform. They have all met the same fate: rejection. One can only conclude Pennsylvanians prefer the “devil they know” to the one they don’t.
pd
The assessment process in
The assessment process in Pennsylvania is severly outdated. Reassessments are immensely unpopular and expensive, making it difficult for them to be conducted on a regular basis. Avoiding regular assessments results in county and school disticts resorting to spot assessments, which create a vast inequity in what is paid by individuals with identical homes in the same neighborhood. Preventing spot assessments, as this legislation seeks to accomplish, is only one part of the issue. The other, more central part, is to require County Governments to conduct regular assessments to ensure everyone pays their fair share.
Yes, the system is broken
I happen to agree that income-based taxes are the best, most progressive alternative. I also agree that property reassessments are time-consuming, expensive and perhaps unfair depending on the timing of the reassessment.
Property taxes are only half the issue. The other, of course, is the refusal of small municipalities to disband themselves, merge services or school districts, fire/police, etc. (I will be very interested to see what happens when towns over 10,000, IIRC, that use the State Police for their law enforcement are required to pay $100/hr or hire their own police force.)
pd
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