Log In


Reset Password

Property tax rebate deal blocked by disagreement

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The latest from Gov. Tom Wolf and top lawmakers on efforts to negotiate a deal to end Pennsylvania state government's five-month budget standoff (all times local):

2:25 p.m.

Pennsylvania's Senate majority leader says efforts to secure $1.4 billion in school property tax rebates for homeowners as part of a broader budget deal has hit a wall over which districts will get the biggest benefit.

Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman said Monday that Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf won't support each other's proposal to distribute the rebates. A state sales tax increase was supposed to underwrite the school property tax rebate.

So Corman says Republicans urged Wolf to move on from the fight and concentrate on passing a five-months-late budget.

Corman says Republicans want student population to influence the flow of the rebates, and they objected to the amount that Wolf's formula would send to Philadelphia. Wolf wanted a formula that favored poorer school districts.

Corman also says the sides disagreed over measures Republicans sought to make it harder for school boards to raise taxes.

___

12:50 p.m.

Gov. Tom Wolf says a proposed agreement to end a five-month budget standoff is in deep peril despite the framework he announced with top Republican lawmakers earlier this month.

Wolf told a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon on Monday that he's urging Republicans to sell the deal to their rank-and-file.

His comments echo those by top House Democrats over the weekend. House Republicans insist they haven't given up on a proposed budget deal that calls for a state sales tax increase from 6 percent to 7.25 percent.

The revenue was supposed to generate $600 million to balance the budget and finance a record increase in public school aid, plus $1.4 billion in rebates for homeowners who pay school property taxes.

School districts, counties and social services organizations are struggling to get by without state aid.