robert fernandes

Forks Township resident Robert Fernandes, right, last week paid his $7,143 school property tax bill in all singles at the Forks Township municipal building.

(YouTube.com)

The Forks Township man who protested his school taxes by paying them in $1 bills should take his fight to state legislators, Easton Area School District interim Superintendent John Reinhart said Wednesday.

The Pennsylvania House and Senate each has a bill pending to reform school taxes in a shift -- championed by Democrats, Republicans and the Tea Party -- away from property taxes.

Reinhart, in an email statement, said he agreed that funding public education through property taxes isn’t the best way but that the school district can’t do anything to change that.

“Our current system of support is outdated and is essentially unfair to taxpayers and, most especially, unfair to our children,” Reinhart stated, pointing to inequalities between school districts in rich and poor areas. “True tax reform, reform that will address his complaints, will need to come from our lawmakers.”

Forks Township resident Robert Fernandes last week paid his entire $7,143 school tax bill in singles as a way to protest the cost because he home-schools his children. Cameras captured the exchange for YouTube.com. Reinhart said choosing to home-school children does not take away homeowners' obligation to public education.

“I am sure that many senior citizens feel the same frustration as he does when they pay their school taxes without having any children or grandchildren in the school system,” Reinhart said via email. “However, support of public education is a generational responsibility that has been a part of our system of governance for generations.”

Several Lehigh Valley legislators sponsored House Bill 76 and Senate Bill 76 that would remove property taxes as the main source for education funding, in favor of an increase in state income and sales taxes. State Sens. Lisa Boscola, Pat Browne and Bob Mensch and Rep. Marcia Hahn are all bill sponsors.

“It’s too burdensome on people who own homes, particularly elderly homeowners on fixed income,” said Boscola, the lone Democrat of the group.

Getting support for the bill, which would raise sales tax from 6 to 7 percent and income tax from 3.07 to 4.34 percent, has been difficult because many legislators don’t want to consider increasing taxes even if they’re decreasing other taxes, Boscola said.

Browne, however, pointed to a growing number of sponsors, now consisting of almost half the members of both the House and Senate.

“The main goal is to find a main funding source that puts a funding on a broader base and a fairer base to draw from,” he said. “For many, the amount they’re paying in property taxes in time has exceeded the amount they’re paying in their mortgage and it does not directly reflect the amount of money they have to pay in taxes.”

School funding also is a top concern of the Lehigh Valley Tea Party. The group is hosting two speakers on the issue during a public meeting 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Charles Chrin Community Center, 4100 Green Pond Road in Palmer Township. Members also organized a Sept. 24 bus trip to Harrisburg to support the Senate bill, dubbed the Property Tax Independence Act.

Group board member Wayne Schissler said he read about Fernandes’ protest — which he called “awesome” — and said he can sympathize with him. Schissler, of Nazareth, said property taxes are among the most regressive taxes because they increase with little regard for a homeowner’s ability to pay, especially after retirement.

“That’s the biggest concern people have: ‘Will I be able to afford this tax on my Social Security or 401(k)?’’ Schissler said.

Reporter Tom Shortell contributed to this report.