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Motion expressing the Sense of Council of Allegheny County, calling upon the General Assembly to act expeditiously on proposals that eliminate the property tax as the primary funding source for education in Pennsylvania, giving immediate consideration to legislation that provides a fair, equitable way to finance our schools.
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WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has long relied upon property taxes for school funding, a premise that gives unilateral power to taxing jurisdictions, especially school boards, to increase millage rates dramatically to meet their funding requirements; and
WHEREAS, although Pennsylvania's Constitution includes provisions that provide for the uniformity of taxation, such protections do not extend to provide for the relief of onerous property taxes; and
WHEREAS, Allegheny County is currently faced with trying to address an assessment system in which the current reassessment has resulted in seventy-nine percent of all residential properties increasing in some manner and 199,000 properties experiencing an increase of at least twenty percent; and
WHEREAS, with no protections for taxpayers currently in place, increases in assessments coupled with an unenforceable anti-windfall/revenue caps can result in increased property taxes for residents, regardless of the accuracy of the market values in the most recent reassessment; and
WHEREAS, increased tax bills burden not only low-income families, individuals, and seniors, but have had the effect of increasing the number of mortgage foreclosures and tax liens in all populations, resulting in Sheriff's Sales that are already experiencing record levels; and
WHEREAS, while the County has the responsibility of providing fair, equitable, and valid property assessment figures, there is little that can be done to address the overall reliance on property tax for school funding at a local level; such action must be taken at the state level and needs to be done with all due haste; and
WHEREAS, property tax and school funding reform that addresses sources of funding as well as expenditures of the education system can only occur by action of the General Assembly and it is essential that the Body move expeditiously to protect the residents of this Commonwealth;
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS MOVED, AND IT IS THE SENSE OF THE COUNCIL OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY, that this Body calls upon the General Assembly to act expeditiously on proposals that eliminate the property tax as the primary funding source for education in Pennsylvania, giving immediate consideration to legislation that provides a fair, equitable way to finance our schools.