School property tax elimination
Disclaimer: Letters to the Editor express the opinion of the writer and are not necessarily the opinion of WBIG ownership, management or staff.
Homeowner and retirees, if you want school property tax elimination as much as I do, it’s time to get busy. As many as 10,000 homeowners lose their homes each year because they cannot afford to pay their school taxes, and each year there can be found around 350,000 homes in foreclosure in Pennsylvania.
The Property Tax Independence Act has been introduced in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by Jim Cox as HB 76 and in the PA Senate by Dave Argall as SB 76. Both of these legislators are prime sponsors of the legislation.
For the past thirty years the Pennsylvania General Assembly has continued to offer Pennsylvania homeowners nothing more than fraudulent, valueless approaches to property tax relief. We were also offered property tax relief from casino gaming revenue and the horse racing industry, which they divvied up, and to add insult to injury, politicians used the table games revenue to balance the budget.
Now, we have the Property Tax Independence Act, HB 76 and SB 76, sponsored by 68 representatives and 20 senators, respectively. In Luzerne County we would like to THANK these lawmakers who are sponsors of the bills: Senators John Yudichak (prime sponsor) and Lisa Baker, as well as Representatives Karen Boback, Gerald J. Mullery, and Tarah Toohil. We express our sincere gratitude to the representatives and senators who have shown that they truly care about the school children and taxpayers of Pennsylvania.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to persuade Representatives Phyllis Mundy, Mike Carroll, and Eddie Day Pashinski to sign on to the legislation, yet, even after presenting them with numerous signed petitions from their constituents. They offer only excuses that the bill is flawed with ambiguous language.
I urge the public to call these lawmakers and request their support for this legislation at once, or inform them that failure to stand up for Pennsylvania homeowners will occur at their own peril, as you will NOT be supporting them during their next reelection. Here are their local field office phone numbers:
Phyllis Mundy (570) 283-9622
Mike Carroll (570) 655-4883
Eddie Day Pashinski (570) 825-5934
Please note that the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition (PTCC) will hold an information session on the legislation on Thursday, June 6th, at 7:00 pm at Kings College’s Burke Auditorium, 133 North Franklin Street. Speakers include Dave Baldinger, Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations (PCTA) Administrator. For more information please visit www.WilkesBarreTaxpayers.com.
Thank you,
Frank R. Sorick
President, Wilkes-Barre City Taxpayers Association
125 Waller St
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
570-574-6395
