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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Marc Gergely |
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Gergely: 35th District homeowners to receive above-average property tax relief
HARRISBURG, May 1 – State Rep. Marc Gergely, D-Allegheny, today announced homeowners living in the 35th Legislative District are expected to receive school property tax cuts this summer that are above the estimated $169 statewide average.
Gergely said more than $613 million in slots proceeds is now in the state’s Property Tax Relief Fund, which will bring school property tax relief to more than 3 million Pennsylvania homeowners this summer.
Homeowners in the 35th Legislative District are estimated to receive:
Duquesne City School District - $344
East Allegheny School District - $236
Elizabeth Forward School District - $231
McKeesport Area School District - $324
South Allegheny School District - $209
Steel Valley School District - $235
West Mifflin School District - $219
Woodland Hills School District - $184
"These estimates have exceeded my expectations and I am thrilled to announce real school property tax relief for local homeowners," Gergely said.
Gergely said each year, his office process hundreds of rebates of up to $650 through the expanded Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program. He noted that pairing the rebate with the school property tax relief through gaming revenue could mean the total elimination of property taxes for some homeowners.
"Introducing slots gaming in Pennsylvania was done for the purpose of providing across-the-board school property tax relief for all homeowners. We now have several strategies in place to help relieve homeowners of this burdensome tax and cuts will only get better as revenue continues to grow."
Gergely said school districts will receive the slots money from the state and will use it to adjust homeowners’ property tax bills.
Last year, gaming revenues were used to help 540,000 Pennsylvania senior citizens receive $234 million in property tax relief through the expanded Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program.
The lawmaker said he also supports legislation, H.B. 1947, that would amend the state constitution to allow the legislature to completely eliminate property taxes on primary homes and farmsteads. The constitution currently limits property tax relief for homeowners. The bill would remove the barrier to eliminating property taxes by increasing the homestead exemption to 100 percent.
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