Property tax bill threatens school funding

Pennsylvania continues to struggle with the need to manage property taxes while finding alternative funding for our public schools. Currently, property tax revenue is the main source of our funding. Many states grapple with this challenge, and a few like Massachusetts seem to have found more equitable and sustainable ways to do it. It’s a big issue that needs serious study.

Unfortunately, some Pennsylvania lawmakers are trying to address this issue without considering – or caring about – the devastating impact to our state’s public schools.

State Rep. Warren Kampf of Chester County has introduced PA House Bill 1213 that enables significant property tax reductions for commercial properties, jeopardizing funding for school districts. If this bill passes, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association estimates the West Chester Area School District (WCASD) could potentially lose more than $8 million in tax revenue from commercial properties next year alone. That loss would mean cuts to programs and services, and higher taxes for homeowners. It would also jeopardize our ability to complete renovations to our elementary schools.

This bill doesn’t help senior citizens, low-income families, or homeowners. It only helps commercial property owners. I contacted Representative Kampf’s office to discuss the issue and was told by an aide that the bill is designed to make Pennsylvania more business friendly. Unfortunately, this would come at the expense of our schools.

The bill, if passed, would not allow school districts to appeal an assessed value of a commercial property when it is sold at a much higher value. For example, in 2010, an office building in West Chester was valued at $2.1 million, and in 2015 it sold for $5.9 million at a tax rate based on that $2.1 million figure. Current law allow school districts to challenge the assessment based on the new sale price. WCASD did, and it generated an annual additional $11,587 in property tax revenue for the district.

We challenged 17 commercial property assessments over the past two years, generating an additional $1.4 million in revenue for our district. That money was used to pay for programs and services for our students. Those 17 properties went from a cumulative value of $93 million to $363 million. If this bill passes, school districts will not be allowed to appeal these new market values.

House Bill 1213 will take a serious financial toll on our public schools, which are already under-funded given the vast amount of mandates we face each year.

Most people don’t realize that our school district is state-mandated to provide busing for children who attend private and charter schools within 10 miles of our district borders. This busing alone costs our district $7 million each year. We bus to 140 different schools each day. Our special education costs risen from $4.1 million in 1991 to $41 million in 2016 as more and more students are being identified as having special needs, and as more families choose to pursue lawsuits against public schools. Our mandated state education retirement system contribution costs have gone up $20 million over the last four years, from $10 million to $30 million. That’s a mandated cost created by our legislators.

Like other school districts in Chester County, we have worked diligently to control the costs we are able to control, while still maintaining programs, facilities, and staff that contribute to making us one of the top counties in the country for public education excellence. The great reputation of our district, coupled with our fiscal responsibility, is part of what makes our area so desirable for so many families. This, in turn, keeps our property values solid.

We understand the current property tax system is not equitable. Business owners face reassessments more frequently than homeowners because their purchases generate significantly more money.

It’s up to our counties to reassess all properties more frequently to even out the inequities. Chester County hasn’t faced a reassessment since 1998. Or, it’s up to our legislators to develop a more equitable and adequate source of funding for our school districts – one that values public education.

We are doing our part to the best of our ability to balance the needs of our students and our taxpayers. We hope that our legislators will recognize this, and do not vote for a bill that will rip funding from our schools. Chester County is so desirable in large part because of the strength of our educational system. Dr. Jim Scanlon West Chester Area School District superintendent