A Plan To Eliminate PA Property Taxes Is Shaping Up In Harrisburg

A group of senators are currently working to craft a bill that would eliminate school property taxes in Pennsylvania, sources say. Sen. David Argall (R., Schuylkill) tells the Philadelphia Inquirer he is working with a number of his colleagues in Harrisburg to come up with a bill that could succeed in doing away with the tax.

According to the Inquirer's report, some options under consideration are eliminating school property tax on primary residences and increasing income and sales taxes for school funding.

As soon as this week, Argall plans to sit down with his fellow senators and assess feedback from informal polling on the issue. “We’re taking a headcount to see which version the members prefer,” Argall told the publication. “And then once we have a solid count then we hope to move forward on the issue.”

The effort to strike property taxes has heated up after a constitutional amendment passed in November allowing Pennsylvania to exempt owner-occupied homes from real estate levies, including school taxes.

"To say that the school property tax is antiquated would be a severe understatement. This burdensome tax, which dates back to the 1830s, is not only crippling the American dream of home ownership for current homeowners but for future ones as well," Argall said in an Op-Ed ahead of the vote on the constitutional amendment.

Argall said his constituents have told him they are months away from losing their homes, "others are considering moving to one of our neighboring states where school property taxes are significantly lower."

Argall's effort to eliminate property taxes is years in the making. He is the prime sponsor of The Property Tax Independence Act, which was defeated in 2015. It has since been reintroduced and referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

A spokesman for Governor Tom Wolf told the Inquirer he would review any proposal upon formal introduction.

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