×

No representation, no credibility

Over the last several weeks, The Express published several front page articles about Keystone Central School Board and the Property Tax Independence Act, HB-SB 76.

These articles reported one thing in common: Opposition to HB-SB 76, and the information provided by the school board about HB-SB 76 was misleading.

Everyone from KCSD Superintendent Kelly Hastings to all nine members of the school board oppose HB-SB 76.

I asked myself: How is this even possible? Isn’t the board made up of Democrats and Republicans? How is it that not one Republican took a stand for the people who elected them? How could all the board members vote to pass a resolution opposing this bill?

I’ll tell you how this happened. It started with an edict from the the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) “encouraging” school administrators across the Commonwealth to condemn the Property Tax Independence Act. Administrators, acting as PSBA agents, are spoon-feeding school boards a “sample” resolution to adopt at school board meetings that was full of misleading information.

In my opinion, not one Keystone Central board member read or bothered to research HB-SB 76 because, if they did, they would have realized what they were being spoon-fed was all untrue. Was this just laziness? A case of go along to get along?

Here is some of the misleading information from the school board. The bill would not eliminate school property taxes in every district. This is true but, school property taxes would be reduced by 85 to 90 percent where districts have debt and the remaining tax would go specifically toward paying down a district’s debt. When the debt is paid off, the property tax is eliminated.

The added income and sales taxes shared by all would send more tax dollars to richer districts than poor ones. Again, this is untrue; HB-SB 76 enables a dollar-for-dollar replacement of all property taxes eliminated in each district. There is no formula and no redistribution of wealth.

Board members argue that the bill eliminates property taxes for businesses and industries, as well as homeowners, so a large pharmaceutical company or a major manufacturer gets a big break while working taxpayers and consumers get the burden in the form of increased income and sales tax.

Again, this is untrue! Businesses do not pay taxes, individual customers pay taxes. Taxes, including school property taxes, affect the prices of products that consumers pay. Small businesses represent local small “mom and pop shops” that have to fight tooth and nail to compete with the big box shops. Big corporate entities (such as Walmart or Target) can afford expensive lawyers to milk the current school property tax system. A perfect example is local taxing authorities picking winners via specialized tax privileges. The little “mom and pop shop” that already is at a disadvantage becomes even more pronounced when a large business is given a specialized school property tax break. Essentially, passage of the Property Tax Independence Act would turn the entire state into a giant Keystone Opportunity Zone.

How many times have we heard the school board tell us that they have to raise property taxes because Harrisburg is without a budget and they are not sure of the allocation they are to receive from the state?

With HB-SB 76, there will be a steady flow of money to school districts regardless of politics in Harrisburg. All tax revenue from HB-SB 76 goes into the Education Stabilization fund and is paid to districts on a quarterly basis.

In my opinion, the KCSD superintendent and nine school board members have lost all credibility because of their actions in voting on a resolution against HB-SB 76. The only way to redeem yourselves is to actually read HB-SB 76 and apologize to the taxpayers for making misleading statements to The Express. Oh, and make sure it gets the front page too! How can the taxpayers of KCSD believe in anything the school board tells us again! Just look at the ongoing financial crisis at KCSD. We were told everything would be just great starting new programs and increasing spending.

Just last June, the school board majority voted to increase property taxes to bring in an additional $585,681 in 2017. One month later, the state raised the PILT (taxes paid on state land). KCSD’s share of this money will be close to $600,000 in 2017. Now, can you say overspending!

In my opinion, the taxpayer has lost all representation from the Keystone Central School Board. Go to www.the-disaffected.com, read the facts and sign the petition.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $3.69/week.

Subscribe Today