The Antietam School District in Berks County is the latest to join the campaign to repeal Act 1.
The Antietam School Board voted 8-1 on Monday to send a letter to the state Legislature and Gov. Ed Rendell asking them to repeal the tax shift scheme and replace it with meaningful property tax relief.
The only Antietam board member to vote against the best interests of taxpayers was Julia Kleiman-Baer. Voters should remember that name when they go to the polls on May 15.
Antietam is now the eighth school district in Pennsylvania to seek repeal of Act 1.
Antietam joins the Governor Mifflin and Conrad Weiser school districts in Berks County in opposing Act 1. Other school boards that passed resolutions against Act 1 include Central Bucks, Pennsbury, Centennial and Bristol Township in Bucks County; and Coatesville in Chester County.
When will your school board start looking out for taxpayers instead of special interests that have driven up the costs of public education in Pennsylvania? Start writing letters and attending school board meetings to demand repeal of Act 1.
All 501 school districts in Pennsylvania should adopt the Act 1 repeal resolution and demand an end to the Act 1 shell game approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Rendell. Find out if your state legislator supported Act 1 and vote them out of office in 2008.
You can learn more about the flaws in Act 1 from the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition. The group's Web site is http://www.ptcc.us/
2 comments:
Hello Tony,
Thanks for all of your efforts to put an end to the madness known as Act 1. As you know better than most, it is another attempt by our state legislature to dodge their responsibility to overhaul our education financing system and do away with local property taxes.
There are thousands of families here in York County whose school tax bills consume 20% or more of their income. Tax rates in the city of York total approximately 4.5% of a home's value - it's like paying sales tax on the value of the home every year.
Until we get real finance and tax reform, nonsense like the $2.2 million buget for athletic field upgrades, approved just yesterday by my local school board, will continue until the system breaks under its own weight.
In the meantime, the typical Pennsylvania high school pumps out 30-40% of each graduating class without the basic skills to fill out a job application and little of no understanding of the history of our great nation.
God help us all.
Tony,
Year after year, the school districts raise property taxes so much that seniors on fixed incomes and young families cannot keep pace with these increases.
They are struggling to keep their homes.
House Bill 1 controls on budgets need to be tightened. The exemptions to the inflation index on spending must be eliminated.
The index provides more than enough revenue to meet educational needs.
If the school boards want to spend more than necessary, then they should seek permission from the public.
Strong referendums give the community a better opportunity to participate in the management of education.
The school districts have millions sitting in off-budget funds; they do not need loopholes to continue their expensive habits of the past.
Petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/online/11622.html
"We, the citizens of Pennsylvania, request the exemptions to the referendum in House Bill 1 be eliminated. The school districts have more than enough funds and revenue to meet educational needs."
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