First Act for Act I

From the BCCT this morning:

Taxpayers to reap Act 1 benefits
Bucks property owners will get an average of $236 in property tax relief next year, according to state estimates.
By BRIAN SCHEID STAFF WRITER


For the first time, Bucks County property owners will receive an average of nearly $236 next year in property tax relief from gaming revenue, according to estimates released by the state Thursday.

The amount of tax relief varies by each of the county’s 13 school districts. Bristol Township property owners will receive $289, the most of any district in the county, while property owners in the Centennial School District will receive $166, the lowest amount in Bucks. Overall, districts in Bucks will receive nearly $33.6 million in property tax relief from the state, just more than 5 percent of the $613 million in gaming revenue that will be given out to the more than 500 districts throughout Pennsylvania.

The funding is part of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 2006, also known as Act 1, and is taken from state revenues collected from Pennsylvania’s seven slot machine casinos, including Philadelphia Park Casino in Bensalem, which opened in December 2006. Gov. Ed Rendell signed the act into law in June 2006.

As of April 27, those casinos had made gross revenue of more than $1.1 billion during the current fiscal year, including a 34 percent state tax that has climbed to more than $376.6 million as of late last month, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

According to Michael Race, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, the amount each district will receive is based on a complex formula he said benefits high property tax, low wealth districts. Based on the formula, districts with high property tax bills and low income residents will benefit most, he said.

The funding will be given directly to the school districts and the relief will be reflected in each property owner’s tax bill, Race said.

The money will cover only a small portion of most property owners’ tax bills, but likely will offset many of the proposed budget increases area school boards could approve this year, several school administrators said Thursday.

“They’re certainly not going to use this money to go on an extended vacation, but I’m sure every bit helps,” said James Lombardo, superintendent of the Bensalem School District, where an estimated 11,170 property owners are expected to receive about $203 in property tax relief from gaming revenues. “It’s nice to see some reduction.”

Lombardo said the district’s school board will consider a preliminary budget next week that calls for a $175 increase for the owner of a median assessed home.

In Bristol Township, homeowners’ tax bills could be less next year than they were this year, according to Gerry Barcik, the district’s business manager. The school board is considering a preliminary budget that calls for a $111 increase for the average homeowner while the state estimates that each of the township’s 11,729 eligible homeowners will receive $289 in tax relief.

In the Neshaminy School District, where the board will consider a preliminary budget in two weeks that calls for a $358 increase for the average homeowner, the property tax relief is a welcome and unexpected bonus for Joe Paradise, the district’s business administrator.

“The fact that we’re getting any gaming revenue at this point is great,” Paradise said. “It’s good news for taxpayers.”

Throughout the Neshaminy district, 16,602 property owners will receive an estimated $216 in property tax relief.

State Rep. John Galloway, D-140, whose district includes the Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts, said the tax relief “couldn’t come at a better time.”

“Prices for fuel, utilities and food continue going up so it gives me great pleasure to let my constituents know that at least their school property tax bill is going down,” Galloway said.