The Matt Heckman Plan for Property Tax Reform

October 11, 2005 by Matt Heckman.

Throughout the year I have seen numerous ideas for reforming our property tax system in this commonwealth. We got the Commonwealth Caucus plan in one corner and Act 72 in the other. Act 72 is morally wrong because is collects funds off of the misfortunes of others by gambling. The Commonwealth Caucus plan has a closer approach, but tampers with the sales tax which can interfere with commerce within the commonwealth. Here is my plan for not just Property Tax Reform, but Tax Reform in general and I welcome all comments on this.

1. We go to a flat 10% income tax on earned and unearned income. In the process all other taxes such as gasoline, cigarette, sales, etc. are wiped from the books. Harrisburg should only have one source of revenue coming in. The citizens of the commonwealth have a right to know exactly how much of their money is funding their state government, and all of these hidden taxes like I mentioned above only continue to misplace the trust of the commonwealth citizen.

2. As for the property tax problem part of the income tax will fund the local schools evenly, but there are exceptions. The money that is dispersed from Harrisburg to the schools must go to educational purposes only. That means the money will only go to things like books, computers, and so on and not on things like new turf for the football field, or a new swimming pool.

3. Another issue that comes up often from people in the commonwealth that don’t have children and pay through the nose in property taxes. Just as a parent has to pay for child support for his or her child if the couple is separated they should share in the burden for paying for their child’s education. I call this the Al Walentis proposal for those of you that don’t know Al he is the online editor of the Reading Eagle. Al made this suggestion some months back, and while we don’t agree on everything I give him credit for coming up with this idea. Another name for this could be the You Play You Pay proposal. This system can work like child support where part of your income pays for your child’s education. I have two boys, and I know my responsibilities as a parent, and I see so many parents that don’t care about their kids anymore, and this would be a good start in the right direction of responsibility. This plan is simple. Each parent for the child pays 5% of their income to the school district in which they reside.

4. In the process the school board is stripped of any power to burden citizens with any form of oppressive taxes.

Now keep in mind this is a rough draft, but I believe this is a good start in the right direction. I welcome all comments and suggestions.

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