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When voters go to the polls next Tuesday they will be presented with a very tempting offer — to set in motion the path to eliminating property taxes.

The ballot will read:

Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to permit the General Assembly to enact legislation authorizing local taxing authorities to exclude from taxation up to 100 percent of the assessed value of each homestead property within a local taxing jurisdiction, rather than limit the exclusion to one-half of the median assessed value of all homestead property, which is the existing law?

Translation: a “yes” vote on this will allow local governments to decide whether or not to continue to collect all or a portion of local property taxes. With low- and middle-class homes finding it harder to make ends meet, the elimination of property tax sounds like a welcomed financial reprieve. But this is a small part of a much larger problem, and we must consider how this band-aid will help and hurt those in our community

First, we need to have a basic understanding of how our public K-12 schools are funded. The state covers roughly 37% of the total budget needed to operate our schools. The remaining lion’s share of the budget (57%) is funded by local property taxes. These taxes are set by local authorities and vary based on municipality.

In order to make up for the lost funding if property taxes are eliminated, and most importantly avoid our school systems failing, the General Assembly would need to raise taxes in other areas to cover the budget. This would most likely be in the form of increasing the state income tax and sales tax, and going after other items, like food, clothing and textbooks, which are currently tax-free in PA. These increased taxes put extra burden on working families and individuals. Projections show that even though property taxes could decrease, overall taxes would most likely increase.

As a homeowner myself, I understand that property tax is a burden to many residents of the 21st District. But our solution should not be a half-baked amendment that risks putting our children’s education and working families’ finances in jeopardy. Our elected officials must fight for a complete solution, or at the very least, pursue more equitable ways to alleviate the property tax burden for homeowners and renters, like a circuit breaker tax credit.

Voting yes on this referendum puts our children and public schools unnecessarily at risk. On top of our property tax problem, Pennsylvania uses one of the most unequal funding structures for school districts in the United States. In fact, in September, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court revived a case that challenges the constitutionality of the state’s school funding system. We have a lot of work to do.

I will be voting NO to this amendment because it’s too late for band-aids, especially ones that will worsen our state’s budget wounds. We must demand that elected officials in Harrisburg work harder for more just and complete solutions, not just half-baked risks.