Heffley Votes for Property Tax Relief Legislation
HARRISBURG – Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-Carbon) today voted in favor of legislation that would provide significant school property tax relief to residential and commercial property owners across the Commonwealth. The House passed the legislation, which now goes to the Senate for consideration.
“Passing this legislation was an important first step on the road to achieving total property tax elimination,” Heffley said. “Every property taxpayer in the Commonwealth will see property tax relief under this legislation.”
The legislation represents a shift away from property taxes by changing the state’s Personal Income Tax (PIT) to 3.7 percent and the state’s Sales and Use Tax (SUT) to 7 percent, without expanding it to cover items that are currently sales tax exempt. The PIT funds generated from this shift would reduce school district millage rates immediately. The SUT funds generated from the tax shift would go directly to homeowners through homestead and farmstead exclusions. The plan would raise $5 billion, all of which would go toward reducing school property taxes.
“This plan represents a true dollar-for-dollar tax shift away from property taxes,” Heffley said. “It would provide meaningful property tax relief to the hard-working families and seniors who are struggling to keep up with increasing property taxes. Residents are being forced to sell their homes because they can no longer afford their property tax bill, but they are unable to sell their homes because the taxes are so high. This plan would provide those residents and homeowners across the Commonwealth with nearly $5 billion in property tax relief.”
The legislation includes cost controls on future millage rate increases to ensure that school property tax reductions stay in place. Specifically, as PIT funds naturally grow as the economy grows, the additional PIT dollars would be used to further drive down millage rates. Heffley said that this is an important element that must be included in any property tax reform bill.
Representative Doyle Heffley
122nd District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jonathan Anzur
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