An article appearing on the editorial page of the Lebanon Daily News Taxes, Taxes, Everywhere on February 23, and taken from the Salt Lake City Tribune, raised argument to a proposal to end property tax through a restructuring of sales taxes.  The proposal in question was a house bill which would raise the sales tax in Utah by 1.65% with groceries being exempt.  The increase in sales tax would thereby put an end to property tax for school funding.  The argument presented suggests that the sales tax increase would put a greater burden on the poor and only benefit the middle class and wealthy, giving little regard to the fourth class, those in the lower income bracket.

If one were to make a common sense analysis (statistics and charts put aside) of how this tax shift would affect these four very different classes it may look something like this:

The Poor - This increase would mean that for every $10 spent another 17 cents would be paid toward taxes.  For every $1,000 spent another $16.50.  The poor rarely if ever make $1,000 purchases, would an extra 17 cents actually cause undue hardship? Probably not.  Do not even some of the poor aspire to the possibility of home ownership?

The Lower Income - Here again we have few who make numerous high dollar purchases.  But many in this bracket do own property, with an ever increasing tax base sucking life out of their well being.  Have they control over how much their property will be taxed? No.  Do they have control over their retail and recreational spending? Yes

Are there many aspiring home owners in the lower income bracket?  Yes, just go out there and talk to some young families trying to get established.  One of their main concerns when looking at property is, of course, the property tax.  A slumping housing market, what a boost it would get with the end of property tax.

The Middle Class - This group, while it may appear to be doing well on the outside, is ever increasingly being pushed toward austerity with this present system.  Many pay $1500 to $5000 and more per year toward their property ownership penalty.  Many hope for and hold on to their income tax return to, for the most part, pay only a portion of their approaching school tax.  Where would this money go if not toward property tax?  A large part would go back into the economy boosting it by millions.  The retail markets would get a super surge by people spending more, the housing market would get a positive jolt with prospective buyers not having to consider the negative aspect of this annual gouging.

The Wealthy & Upper Class - Although they may be thought of as the group least needing this type of tax relief, they too would have more disposable income, possibly pumping some of this additional money back into both small and large business, benefiting employment of the poor, lower, and middle income.  More money, more spending, increased commerce.

Our state's present course of relying on gambling to help alleviate property tax is a huge gamble in itself.  Atlantic City is reporting dwindling revenue from the saturation of other casinos on the east coast along with the appearance of an oncoming recession.

Do we, the hard working people of Pennsylvania, truly desire to solve our home ownership dilemma with a cluster of slot machines?  Several of our local legislators have proposed plans to end property tax with a restructuring of sales tax.  Some of these proposals have not even called for an increase, but rather a redistribution.  It's fair, it would be paid by all to some extent.  It can work and will work if we as citizens stand up and require action in Harrisburg rather than appeasing political garble.  Write your congressmen, write your newspapers, and become active voting and supporting candidates who back this type of plan.

And if we truly desire to help this economy, after we get to keep that $2,000 or more a year, we could do our best (although it's increasingly hard to do) and go out there and buy American.

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