| abstract
| - Governor Rendell and the Pennsylvania General Assembly were prepared to impose a contemptuous, insulting, grossly inadequate "Property Tax Reform Light" plan, which would have added insult to the injury caused when they conspired to approve massive pay raises for themselves last July. Thankfully, the plan has collapsed under its own weight, scuttled by Republicans who know that we can do much better. The paltry "initiative" which was being desperately rushed to approval just in advance of the primary election could aptly have been termed " Property Tax Relief for Seniors who Vote", as it provided virtually nothing for those who are not in their golden years. Many Pennsylvania seniors are certainly financially beleaguered and deserving of tax relief, but so too are struggling middle-class families, many of whom have difficulty meeting our annual property tax burden of thousands of dollars. We have spoken clearly to our elected officials in pressing for elimination of the property tax, not simply tinkering around its edges. Thusfar, our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Under the abandoned tax relief plan, benefits for seniors would have been fixed and certain. The General Assembly had no such fortitude or determination to codify more substantial relief for Pennsylvanians at large, providing instead a referendum opportunity for most communities to approve an income tax/property tax swap. What they should do is to make property tax relief certain for all Pennsylvania communities and to have put their salary increases to a referendum. I wonder whether the citizenry would have felt the Lords and Ladies of the Legislature were entitled to huge enhancements in their compensation packages in addition to the cost of living hikes they have received for years. Throughout his campaign for election, Governor Rendell pledged property tax relief of 30%, and indicated that if the General Assembly failed to act, he would single-handedly enact it. The plan which was set to imposed four years after his original pledge, and which satisfied him and many of his cohorts in the General Assembly, was a pale shadow of the original promise, a cruel hoax through which our elected officials sought to pull the wool over the eyes of the electorate. The Governor had the gall to say of the legislation, "This is a great day for all Pennsylvanians, but particularly for our seniors." Only the latter part of his statement was accurate, and he surely knows it. Let the message go out again to state elected officials, and let it be heard loud and clear: we want real and substantial property tax relief, if not elimination of this cruel and inequitable levy, which is the most expensive and unwieldy to administer. Until we receive that relief, we will be justified in charging that those whom we placed in office do not give a hoot about middle-class hard-working Pennsylvania families, whose battle to stay afloat becomes more challenging every day!
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