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May 9, 2008
Contact:
Anna Gustafson
717-787-2637
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Senate
Update
by
Senator James J. Rhoades
Over the past five years, the General Assembly has taken serious
steps to provide Pennsylvanians with relief from school property taxes.
Despite this, many of the people I represent have recently been
hit with dramatic tax increases because of a loophole in the Commonwealth's
assessment laws.
The tax "adjustments" that this loophole allows are just tax
increases by another name. So, I have introduced legislation to close it.
My efforts to change these laws are gathering momentum in the
Senate, where the Senate Finance Committee held hearings on my bills this week.
Along with local government officials and constituents who have
seen first-hand the financial hardships that these "adjustments" can cause, I
urged the Finance Committee members to vote these bills out of committee and
take another important step toward tax fairness in Pennsylvania.
Under current law, the sale or purchase of a property cannot
lawfully trigger a reassessment by a county board; however, the sale or purchase
price can alert a taxing body, like a school district, of the disparity in its
assessed value, thus resulting in a spot assessment. As a result, property
owners can be hit with tax increases that they never expected when they
purchased their homes.
This practice has to stop, and we can stop it by closing the
loophole that allows it to happen. My bills would do just that and make sure
that all property taxpayers are treated fairly under the law.
In the coming weeks, I will continue to push for these bills to
become law and so ensure that legal loopholes don't translate into property tax
increases for the people I represent.
Senator Rhoades represents the 29th
Senatorial District, which includes all of Schuylkill County
and parts of Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe and Northampton
Counties.
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