Issue Position: Eliminating Property Taxes

Issue Position

Let me begin by quoting from two different documents, written within mere weeks of each other, by like-minded men in Philadelphia in 1776:

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…

PA CONSTITUTION DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
Article 1, Section 1

All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness.

I want to underscore that the second quote is from Article I, Section 1 of our state constitution. Not Article V. Not section 23. It's Article I Section 1. There's a distinct reason why our right to acquire, possess and protect property is the very first of our inherent rights listed in the Declaration of Rights, after life and liberty itself.

And let's be clear - these rights are declared. Nobody was asking permission for the right to acquire, possess and protect property. The framers declared these rights, using this exact wording from the very beginning in 1776.

The reason property rights are listed at the beginning of our Declaration of Rights is because the people who created Pennsylvania's frame of government clearly understood that private property is the cornerstone of a free society. Without private property, there is no freedom. Without property, none of our other inherent rights make much of a difference.

But don't take my word for it. Section 124 of John Locke's Second Treatise of Government, written in 1690 and pre-dating the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Declaration of Independence by nearly a century, states:

The great and chief end… of men's uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property.

When people first came to America from Europe and elsewhere, they came because they wanted property of their own. When you're living on property belonging to a king, a noble, or a lord, you need their blessing to speak, to worship, and to associate. Property rights are the foothold of freedom, the keystone of prosperity, and the cornerstone of the American dream. Property ownership makes for a free people. Property taxes, on the other hand, only serve to establish a new breed of kings, nobles, and lords.

If the chief reason for creating government -- according to Locke and the founders of this great nation and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania -- is to preserve our property, how is it that agents of that very same government are now assigned the task of taking our property from us when we can't afford to pay tribute? To me, this is an indication that somewhere along the line, the tables have turned. We are no longer considered free individuals with inherent rights, but as subservient subjects begging for privileges.

Imagine what would happen if the ability to exercise your right to vote were dependent on your ability to pay a tax. Or if you couldn't exercise your right to free speech until you paid tribute to the school district. Or if you were thrown out of your church because you couldn't afford your annual county worship tax.

You wouldn't stand for it. Not for one minute. Yet none of these rights are listed in Article I Section 1 of our state constitution. While all of them are critical rights in a free society, they fall into place further down the list than the right to acquire, possess, and defend property.

This is why I say, with all due respect, that we don't need property tax relief. And we don't need property tax reduction. What we need is property tax ELIMINATION. Period.

So how then, exactly, should we go about getting rid of this menace to our freedom and prosperity?

For more than four decades, efforts have been made in Harrisburg to ease our property tax burden. Various revenue replacement and/or rebate schemes have been suggested and tried, but all have failed to satisfactorily solve the problem. Certainly, none have even come close to putting government in the position of unquestionably reestablishing our right to acquire, possess and protect property.

The latest iteration of such a solution to the property tax problem is the bill currently known as Senate Bill 76. SB 76 aims to eliminate the school property tax and replace the revenue by increasing the state income tax from the current 3.07 percent to 4.34 percent, and increasing the state sales tax from 6 to 7 percent along with applying the sales tax to a broader base of items. Gaming revenues currently directed at property tax relief would be included in this revenue replacement plan.

If passed and signed into law by the governor, school property taxes would be frozen for one year and eliminated in the second year, with the exception of a small property tax that will remain on the books for the purpose of retiring each school district's existing debt.

Let me be crystal clear about this bill: If SB 76 has not become law before I am elected State Representative, I will sponsor it, vote for it, and initiate & sign any discharge resolution necessary to get it out of committee and onto the House floor for a vote after I'm elected. It is currently the best thing going in Harrisburg to solve the property tax problem.

That said, the current legislative leadership in Harrisburg is not moving mountains to make this bill become law. And there is no indication that any likely changes to leadership after this year's elections will change that. With SB 76, we may just end up playing the same "lather, rinse, repeat' legislative shell game that we've been playing for 40 years. I don't like it any more than you do, but we cannot ignore the distinct possibility.

Therefore, I propose a different kind of solution to the property tax problem. Once in office, I will introduce a joint resolution to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot, allowing the people to decide whether or not to eliminate property taxes once and for all in Pennsylvania.

If that amendment were on the ballot today, its language would read something like this:

Taxation, assessment or valuation of real property by the Commonwealth, or any taxing authority, jurisdiction, or political subdivision within the Commonwealth, shall be prohibited as of July 1, 2019.

This simple language, if adopted by the people as an amendment to Article VIII of the state constitution, does some very important things:

It eliminates ALL property taxes, not just the school property tax. This is important because it also eliminates the need for counties to assess the value of real property, which is never uniform or fair. We spent millions of dollars here in Lebanon County a couple years ago on a reassessment, and we'll need to continue to spend millions more on future reassessments as long as county and municipal property taxes exist. I'm sure we could all think of better ways to spend or save those county tax dollars.
It sets a five-year deadline for the legislature to formulate a plan to replace the revenue currently generated by property taxes. Five years. That's a long time in legislative-speak, considering that slots bills and pay raises can apparently be conjured up overnight. Over the course of five years, we will pay approximately 1.5 billion dollars for a full-time legislature. I don't think it's unreasonable for the taxpayers -- their employers -- to give them an assignment to complete. It's what bosses expect of their employees. And I guarantee you that no one in Harrisburg is going to let public schools close, counties go bankrupt, or townships close their doors.
Let's talk about revenue replacement for a minute. One of the downfalls of all the plans that have come before, including Senate Bill 76, is linking the elimination or reduction of property taxes to a specific revenue replacement scheme. When you choose to use Revenue Source X, Y or Z to replace property taxes, all you're doing is creating opportunities for special interests to oppose your plan to eliminate property taxes simply because they oppose any increase to Revenue Source X, Y or Z. By creating coalitions of opponents, you essentially kill your property tax plan.

Let's also talk about the consequences of a constitutional amendment, as opposed to a change by statutory law. If you eliminate property taxes by statute, a simple majority of the legislature can reverse course and bring property taxes right back into play. Again, as with the slots bill and the pay raise, we already know that the legislature can act quickly, and without public review, when it wants to. A constitution amendment, on the other hand, would require a vote of the people to overturn.

Let me repeat again that I oppose property taxes because acquiring, possessing, and defending property is an inherent right, guaranteed by Article I Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Eliminating property taxes is the primary goal. Once we do that, then we can focus on the revenue replacement.

Freedom first, funding second.

I am prepared to go to Harrisburg to both get this Amendment on the ballot and stick around long enough to help figure out the revenue replacement plan. I would accept just about any other method of taxation over the property tax, because property rights are the foothold of freedom, the keystone of prosperity, and the cornerstone of the American dream.

In conclusion, property taxes must be eliminated in Pennsylvania in order to protect our inherent and declared right to acquire, possess and protect property, the cornerstone of a free society. We can accomplish this with a constitutional amendment that is independent of any particular revenue replacement scheme and sets a firm deadline for the General Assembly to react.

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