Real property tax relief NOW

By PJ Best

When Pennsylvania elected its state legislature in 2006, we were promised property tax relief fueled primarily by gambling revenue. To this day no checks have been issued and the casinos are thriving. the legislature must press for this relief NOW.

Members of the legislature have changed that promise of real tax relief and made it a token of a possible $64 tax rebate. I say possible because we have not seen a penny yet. I am upset that the legislators have now decided to give millions (Yes, millions) of the slot machine revenues to local political leaders for political projects. Apparently, it is more important for the old boys in Harrisburg to win favor with local politicians than to honor the promise of real tax relief. AND IT WORKS! Just look at the number of local politicos who have admitted that they've been bought.

I reviewed a few of the "watch dog" organizations, and among them, the Commonwealth Foundation has listed some of the wasteful spending of our tax dollars by the current legislators:

• Since 1970, Pennsylvania's operating budget has increased from $4.2 billion to a proposed $54 billion in 2006-07, an inflation adjusted increase of 160 percent.
• The state's operating budget as a share of personal income rose from 8.8 percent in 1970-71 to 12.5 percent in 2005-06 + an increase of more than 42 percent.
• Governor Ed Rendell proposes to increase state operating spending to a level 23 percent higher than when he took office, more than double the 9.2 percent increase in the rate of inflation during his tenure (2002-2005). Current expenditures have gotten worse!

• 3.7 billion in waste, "walking around money" and corporate welfare in Pennsylvania's total state government spending for FY 2005-06.
• $4.3 billion in waste, "walking around money," and corporate welfare in Pennsylvania's total state government spending in Governor Rendell's proposed FY 206-07 spending plan.