The movement to finally deal with the maddening issue of school property tax relief in Pennsylvania is encouraging, but, don’t forget, we’ve gone down this road before, optimism ran high, but then politics claimed reform just as it has done many times in the past.

One of the encouraging signals that things might be different this time was Senate President Pro Tem Joseph Scarniti’s call for a vote on the issue. When legislative leaders speak, members listen. The bill and Scarniti’s pledge of support are steps in the right direction.

Individual legislators are climbing aboard the property tax reduction express. One of the latest is Sen. Mario Scavello, R-Monroe and Northampton. “Every week, we are in the Capitol is another week that citizens in my district, especially our seniors, are suffocating under the weight of ever-increasing school property taxes,” Scavello said. “Many individuals have reached out to me to say that school property taxes should be eliminated for all — I agree with them. I would vote for full elimination tomorrow; however, to date, those proposals have not had the votes to pass.”

When Scarnati was sworn in again to his leadership post earlier this month (January), he committed himself to shepherding the school property tax reduction bill on the Senate floor this session.

This pleased Scavello. “What I do regularly when we are in session is I get up and speak about school taxes and people hurting, especially seniors,” Scavello said. “I speak about specific stories from people in our community that have written to me and about the problems they are having.”

Scavello said he has spent more than 15 years supporting Senate and House of Representative bills to eliminate these taxes, but each effort has come up short.

This session, along with local Sens. John Yudichak, I-Carbon, and Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton and Lehigh, Scavello has introduced Senate Bill 805 and lined up some bipartisan support. “If I could single-handedly force change, I would,” Scavello said, but he noted that only 17 senators are on board; at least 26 are needed to pass the legislation. In the House, approval by at least 102 of the 203 members is required for passage, so there is still much legwork to be done.

Scavello described heartbreaking stories of constituents who have been taxed out of their homes, seniors who have seen large increases in their school property tax bills during their retirement, widowers who were forced to sell off all their possessions. Most dire, he said, are those cases of people taking their lives over losing their homes due to unpaid taxes.

“If we don’t have the votes for any of these specific bills, then we should at least do something for the seniors. We are all going to be seniors one day,” Scavello said. “I’ll support any bill that comes forward and helps people with property tax relief, any bill” he added.

Scavello’s bill proposes giving a tax rebate of up to $5,000 for all seniors 65 and older with an annual household income of less than $60,000. To pay for this, he proposed raising the state sales tax from 6 to 6.5%.

Rep. Maureen Madden, D-Monroe, said she is receptive to Scavello’s legislation, depending on details, and plans to introduce a similar bill in the House.

“We are all just trying to give relief to seniors,” she said. She cited the case of a Pocono Pines widow whose mortgage has been paid off and who is living off a monthly Social Security payment of $1,300 and pays property taxes of $6,500 a year to the Pocono Mountain School District. “Something has to be done.” Madden said.

Her legislation would provide a $2,000 rebate for homesteads and farmsteads to reduce or eliminate school property taxes for many. Her bill would set up a 0.98% surtax on the state income tax, taking it from 3.04 to 4.02%

Madden characterized her bill and Scavello’s as “Band-Aids” until legislators come to grips with the really tough job of making school funding equitable. She pointed out that 185 of the state’s 500 districts are underfunded. One of the prime examples is Panther Valley, which has really been hurt by funding inequities.

I reached out to Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill, who convened a bipartisan group of legislators to study this issue and which came back with five recommendations, but he has not responded to a request for comment on Scavello’s bill.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com