Dear Editor:

Why are Pennsylvania’s Republican legislators hellbent on eliminating property taxes?

Republican representative Frank Ryan’s 314-page House Bill 13 proposes to eliminate property taxes and fund public education in Pennsylvania with increases in the income and sales tax. The bill would raise the Pennsylvania income tax rate by 60%, raise the sales tax rate by 33%, and tax food, clothing, and some retirement income for the first time.

With no property tax, out-of-staters will buy up our farms and chop down our forests to build weekend getaways. No property tax in perpetuity will make this an attractive purchase. Their income will not be taxed in Pennsylvania and as part-time residents they will spend little in the local community. That is, the property will generate no property tax, no income tax, and little sales tax, thus contributing virtually nothing toward public education in Pennsylvania. Ever!

Ronald Reagan said the nine scariest words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” He was wrong. The nine scariest words are “I’m a Republican and I’m here to fix taxation.”

If a property tax hurts the less well-off, why not simply lower their rate and recoup the lost revenue by reducing subsidization of private, for-profit (cyber) schools. Instead, Republican legislators propose this convoluted mess that obscures the fact that it’s a boon to wealthy out-of-staters, a net gain to high-value property owners, and a net loss to renters and those with modest properties. In other words, it will “comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted.” It almost seems as if that is the intent.

George Wenzel III

Quakake