Citing Just the Lowest Tax Benefits of Act 72:

Dr. Hartman presented the "Amount of Property Tax Reduction Per Homestead" for the Juniata Valley school district's approved homesteads as ranging between $138 and $218. He stated that he would only show the estimates for the lowest or minimum tax relief level of $500 million. If he was really sincere about giving both sides of the issue, he could have at least mentioned that there are higher levels of tax relief when the slot machine revenue grows. He chose not to.

In the Q & A session of the meeting, I suggested that for the benefit of the Juniata Valley attendees at the meeting, to be fair and truly unbiased, he should have at least shown that there is a maximum possible tax estimate that could be as high as $444 per homestead at the 60% tax relief rate. Dr. Hartman immediately tried to correct me by stating that "Act 72 has a 50% maximum tax relief ceiling, not 60%."
The fact of the matter is that Act 72 has a 60% maximum tax relief provision. I instructed him to check out the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) web-site at:

and he would see in the Question and Answer segment (Question #9) that it was, in fact, 60%. He still insisted that the maximum tax relief under Act 72 was 50%.

Remember, to add insult to injury, this fellow was being paid from my Juniata Valley School District tax dollars as an "expert" consultant on Act 72. He was so focused on showing the lowest possible tax relief number that he evidently never learned that there is a maximum, or worse, he purposefully avoided showing the maximum because it may appeal to the homeowners in the audience.

When Dr. Hartman illustrated the updated, minimal tax relief benefit of $218 for each of the Juniata Valley approved homesteads, he was quick to make a point that it could end up actually being lower in future years. He stated "Before putting that money in the bank, I want to caution you ...." He then went on to state that the Juniata Valley minimal tax relief benefit could end up really being in between the original $138 estimate and this $218 because the number of approved homesteads could get larger each year.

Here again, to be fair and unbiased, he could have said that the Governor has cited four independent studies that state the $1 Billion estimate is conservative and achievable. Dr. Hartman then, to present both sides of the issue as advertised, could have stated that if the billion dollar level of tax relief occurred, each approved homestead in the Juniata Valley school district would receive $362.50.

He chose not to.

Note that since Act 72 has been on the table, the local newspaper, The Daily News, has been consistent in citing the $138 benefit level a number of times when they were quoting representatives from the Juniata Valley school board and/or representatives of the administration of the Juniata Valley schools.

Also note that the process of continuously illustrating the lowest possible benefit worked extremely well when the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) convinced all but four school districts to Opt-Out of Act 50. At the time, when I asked the Juniata Valley school board why they did not go into Act 50 they said that the small tax reduction did not significantly benefit the homeowners. When they gave me a copy of the worksheet used by the PSBA, and paid for with our tax dollars, I was shocked at the inaccuracies and distortions used in the calculations that created a calculated result smaller than what was actually possible.

I find it very interesting that the estimated tax relief in the PSBA study in the year 2000 for Juniata Valley homestead exclusion was $137.83. Amazingly similar to today's $138 for Act 72.... The one factor in their calculations that knocked me off my chair was the estimated 425 Farmsteads that would apply for Act 50 tax relief. When you consider that the 1990 US Census had indicated that there were 87 farms and the Dept. of Agriculture told me that there were 83 farms, the 425 farms used by the PSBA seemed to be one of the major reasons for the small estimated tax savings. At that time, the maximum possible tax relief would have been $413.25 as dictated by the Pennsylvania Constitution. I disagreed then, as strongly as I do now, that the tax relief is significant and well worth doing to help the lower-income residential property taxpayers in the Juniata Valley school district.

Please note that even though the Act 72 maximum value for each of the 1,126 Juniata Valley approved homesteads calculates to over $444 per year at the billion dollar level, the constitutional provision that the benefit cannot exceed ½ of the median value overrides the calculation. This year the maximum tax reduction for each of the 1,126 approved homesteads from the median is set at $362.50. This will change each year as the number of approvals fluctuates and the median value changes.

Robert K. Wargo