PA House Majority leaders spend $90,000 on another property tax study, and hire a Florida firm to

conduct it.

After legislators over the past 30 years have studied, debated and deliberated the property tax issue without meaningful progress, the Pennsylvania House Majority Leadership approved yet another property tax study.

The new study is currently being conducted by a Florida firm and is costing the Pennsylvania taxpayers $90,000.

The costly study was pushed by the Commonwealth Caucus — a group of Republican legislators, who have been using taxpayers money to circulate their real estate tax plan to the exclusion of all other plans that have been submitted to the House and Senate.

“We believe the Commonwealth Caucus searched until they found a consultant who would tell them what they wanted to hear,” said S.T.O.P. (Stop Taxing Our Properties), a grass roots, all volunteer group.

S.T.O.P. has secured over 101,000 signatures on petitions demanding abolishment of all real estate taxes on homesteads and farmsteads in the state. The Commonwealth Caucus wants to keep the county and municipal property tax, which keeps the mechanism for assessments and reassessments in place. That could easily lead to re-establishment of the school property tax by a future legislature. And, since this bureaucracy for assessments, reassessments and collection of what would be just the municipal and county taxes would remain in place, the cost per dollar collected would go up tremendously.

“We hope legislators of both parties will demand a full accounting of all Commonwealth Caucus expenditures,” S.T.O.P. added. “Who approved spending the $90,000 on the Florida consultant to do this study? Was there debate on the floor of the House before this sizable amount was spent? Why weren’t all members of the House of Representatives apprised of these intentions and given an opportunity for input prior to the hiring this out-of-state consultant?”

“While the Commonwealth Caucus is spending tens of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars, the S.T.O.P. volunteers across the state are paying out of our own pockets all of the costs of spreading the word about our much more sensible plan.”

“We’re tired being ignored by these leaders who appear afraid to have a full and open debate of the merits of all the plans submitted,” S.T.O.P. said. “Recently the House Finance Committee conducted a public ‘meeting’ on statewide TV and focused only on the Commonwealth Caucus plan. No one who supports the S.T.O.P. plan was even invited to appear despite the fact we have 59 legislators co-sponsoring our legislation—SB 717-718 and HB 1572-1573.

It appears to us the Commonwealth Caucus and the House Leadership are going to use this so called study, to try to ram through their plan before any meaningful debate and hearings can take place on all the proposals.”

Bob Logue, S.T.O.P.