Replace the property tax

I think everyone, including our legislators, would agree that school property taxes are out of control and only getting worse with relentless increases on the horizon.

My previous letter listed 10 reasons why we should replace school property taxes. Replace them with what, you ask? The answer is very simple. The state sales tax. The state Sales and Use tax was enacted in 1953 specifically to fund education. Why not broaden it?

The Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations, with 64 member groups statewide, has a plan to do just that. In simplest terms, the property tax replacement plan will replace school property taxes with a broadened 6 percent sales tax. The plan will not increase the sales tax rate, but simply broaden the base to include more services and items such as gum, candy, magazines and dry cleaning.

The sales tax was enacted to fund our schools; not property taxes. The property tax should be replaced with the most broad-based tax available so that everyone contributes. This heavy tax burden should not lie solely on the homeowners of Pennsylvania. This simple plan can work to ensure more equitable school funding and fairness for taxpayers and schoolchildren.

The plan has been vetted against numbers provided by the House Appropriations Committee and other economic entities and has been proven to work.

Do not let your legislators tell you that replacing the school property tax is too difficult. It's just not true. They just need the political courage to do what's right: replace the property tax!

For details on the plan, please go to www.ptcc.us. If you agree with the plan, contact your legislators (representative, senator and Gov. Corbett) and tell them you want them to replace the unfair property tax now. No tax should have the power to leave you homeless.
MARGIE LAVIN
EAST HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP http://www.ydr.com/letters/ci_18979709