2008 in Review: Pa. taxpayers rally for change in 2008

From the Pottstown Mercury

2008 in Review: Pa. taxpayers rally for change in 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 8:12 AM EST
By Michael Hays, mhays@pottsmerc.com

Although taxpayers took their grievances to Harrisburg in 2008, their protests did little to change the way schools are funded.

The tax reform debate wages on.

Several state representatives introduced legislation this year to eliminate school property taxes, and about 100 people from the Pottstown area traveled to Harrisburg on June 2 to rally in support of their bill and protest the current system of taxation.

"It can be done. The only thing that is required is leadership and the will," said state Rep. Keith McCall, D-Carbon County, the No. 2 ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, answering the rally cry to eliminate the property tax.

He was one of many speakers at the June 2 "Save Our Homes" rally organized by the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition and state Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-Berks County, in support of House Bill 1275, the School Property Tax Elimination Act.

This proposal failed to become law in 2008, but several representatives want to keep trying.

Rep. Tom Quigley, R-146th Dist., met with Sen. Mike Folmer, R-48th Dist., and Rohrer in October to discuss school property taxes. Folmer's proposal could feature a "strong sales tax," including the taxation of food and clothing, Quigley recently said.

Lawmakers' primary task in 2009 will be keeping essential services going and balancing the budget in a tough economic climate. Perhaps by the summer or early fall, the General Assembly can take a look at what can realistically be accomplished, Quigley said.

The two buses that left Pottstown on the morning of June 2 were filled with many senior citizens, in addition to two Owen J. Roberts School Board members and a few working-age residents.

Jeff Krystopa, 39, moved into a new home in Amity with his wife and three children back in 2003. They picked an affordable home, thinking that Krystopa's salary at Merck would allow his wife to stay at home with the kids.

Annual property taxes payable to the Daniel Boone School District increased approximately $4,000 to $5,000 over five years, he told The Mercury in June. His wife has since gone back to work to help pay the bills.

"Our bill went up every single year, sometimes by the thousands," Krystopa said.

Despite being at his peak earning potential at this point in his life, he feels vulnerable.

"There are people who have the power to take my home away. School board members have the ability to take my house away by their poor decisions," Krystopa said.

One school board member addressed the frenzied crowd during the Harrisburg rally. William O'Conner, a Neshaminy School District board member, said educational reform and relief are needed. Poor school districts suffer when the system is unfair, he said.

O'Conner theorized that the reason change hasn't happened yet because legislators feel "safe" with the status quo on education funding.

"We didn't put you in office to feel safe; we elected you to be agents of change!" he said.

Public education in Pennsylvania is supported primarily through property taxes. The Spring-Ford Area School District receives approximately 78 percent of its revenues from local sources. By comparison, federal coffers contributed less than 1 percent of the current school year's budget.

For most residents and business owners, school taxes amount to their largest single levy for the year.