Last year, the Pennsylvania legislature closed many loopholes in the Rendell-era Taxpayer Relief Act, also known as Act 1, with lawmakers and Corbett administration officials proclaiming that, finally, residents would get more say on school-tax increases.
But one year in, that has not happened.
Act 1, passed in 2006, calls for voter referendums on proposed property-tax increases that exceed an annually set education inflation rate, called the “index.” For 2012-13 budgets, the index is 1.7 percent. Poorer districts are allowed a higher rate.
Click here to read the full article by Dan Hardy published in the Philadelphia Inquirer ( April 30, 2012).
