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Thursday, March 24, 2005 Page: 11A
I have been reading about the state’s new tax law Act 72. This law, while
offering tax relief, has some severe deficiencies that will limit its benefits
to the taxpayer and will severely harm our public schools.
While property-tax reduction is something that everyone wishes could
happen, this law offers minimal reduction while raising taxes to many
citizens. Property-tax reductions in Wyoming Area are estimated to be $94 per
eligible property, if the maximum revenue is made available from the state in
2007. At the same time, Wyoming Area will have to levy an increase of at least
.01 percent personal income tax. According to school district tax records,
more than half of the residents of Wyoming Area will see income tax increases
greater than the property-tax relief. In a similar-sized neighboring district,
estimates show that anyone with a combined family income over $57,700 will
actually pay more tax than the property-tax benefit.
Once the district opts into the program, it will be required to hold a
referendum to raise taxes above the previously stated limits. In states such
as Ohio where similar referendum requirements were made, school districts
faced 20 percent budget holes after three years. The results were massive cuts
to eliminate non-mandated programs such as sports, band and the arts, as well
as delays in facility maintenance and improvements. The bottom line is no
other level of government has been manacled by the idea of referendum as have
school districts. By opting into this act, school districts will be unable to
provide quality education programs as the one offered at Wyoming Area. I
encourage our school district to consider the ramifications of this act. Our
children and future generations of students are dependant upon them to make
the right decision.
Steve Harmanos Exeter