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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Amy
Figard |
State Rep. Paul Costa |
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Costa reintroduces bill to lift burden of ‘EMS’ tax
HARRISBURG, Feb. 9 – State Rep. Paul Costa, D-Allegheny, has reintroduced legislation he pushed last session addressing the pitfalls and gaps in the Emergency and Municipal Services Tax.
Among other things, H.B. 11 would exempt low-income households, allow for alternate payment plans and change the tax’s name to the Local Services Tax in an effort to avoid public misunderstanding.
“We need to ensure the tax is collected in a way that doesn’t harm those living on limited incomes, and we need to name the tax appropriately since it is causing difficulties for local EMS agencies,” Costa said. “These are just the decent, common-sense things we should do as public officials.”
Costa has been working to correct the flaws in how the tax is imposed since before it was enacted. He redoubled his efforts when he began hearing from distressed constituents with low incomes and local EMS groups whose fundraisers were receiving complaints and reduced donations because people thought they had already paid for such EMS services through the tax.
Changes in the legislation include:
· Renaming the Emergency and Municipal Services Tax as the Local Services Tax.
· Exempting from the tax those whose total earned income from all sources is less than $12,000.
· Limiting the total levy for individuals to $52 annually.
· Requiring employers to withhold the tax on a pro-rated basis determined by the number of payroll periods which the employer has established for the year.
· Limiting the tax to just one municipality during each payroll period.
· Requiring a municipality to use at least 25 percent of the revenues for police, fire and emergency services, road construction and/or maintenance or property tax reductions.
Costa introduced a similar bill last session that was vetoed by the governor late last year because of time constraints related to implementation.
Costa said reintroducing this legislation and acting on it now will allow for a more sufficient amount of time for implementation. The bill is being reviewed by the House Finance Committee.
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