Six of the 18 school districts in Berks County will keep their tax rates the same for the 2009-10 school year and four other districts will increase property taxes by less than 2 percent, according to the Reading Eagle.
So much for Gov. Ed Rendell's assertion that if he doesn't increase the state income tax by 16 percent this year, school boards will be forced to raise property taxes next year. No they won't.
School boards can start living within their means like the beleaguered taxpayers who live in those districts.
"Nobody likes tax increases," Dr. Edward Albert, Tulpehocken superintendent, told the newspaper. "And if there was going to be any year you didn't have a tax increase, this was the year not to have it."
It's not like these school boards have been reluctant in the past to raise taxes. The newspapers notes that the Antietam School District, which has the highest tax rate of any Berks County district, has raised property taxes every year since 2000.
That's eight consecutive years of property tax hikes -- and Rendell (who keeps claiming he's lowered school taxes) has been governor for six of those eight years.
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