






































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Book 1.indb


Commonwealth Forum: Should Pennsylvania Abolish 

the Property Tax?

YES
Home ownership is part of the American Dream. From the Homestead Act 
of 1862 to veterans’ loan guarantees to the mortgage income deduction, the 
federal government has sought to encourage its citizens to buy their own 
homes. Not only does it make people more invested in their communities; it 
also increases wealth. The most recent Federal Reserve data shows home-
owners’ average net worth is $231,400 as opposed to only $5,200 for renters. 
The list of benefits goes on. Why, then, does Pennsylvania continue to make 
it harder for its citizens to buy and keep their homes by relying heavily on 
the property tax to fund education? It is hard enough to save for a down pay-
ment and then pay your monthly mortgage bill without also paying thou-
sands of dollars per year to the government for the privilege of keeping your 
home. Older people are particularly vulnerable to the property tax since they 
are often no longer working and living on fixed incomes, yet have to con-
tinue to pay taxes on homes they have already paid off.

Some policy advocates argue that the property tax is the most stable way 
to pay for education in the Commonwealth. They claim that we should keep 
the property tax but provide more financial relief to those who are hit hard-
est by its effects. The problem is that Pennsylvania has been down that road 
before. In 1961 the state established a sales and use tax to help fund educa-
tion. The income tax was passed in 1971, with one of its goals to help increase 
education funding. Casino gambling was legalized in 2006 with some reve-
nue being devoted to property tax relief. Despite all these new sources of 
revenue, property taxes keep going up. Pennsylvanians hate the property tax. 
Piecemeal reforms have not worked. Let’s end this problem once and for all 
by abolishing the property tax and funding education through a combina-
tion of sales and income tax increases.

NO
With rights come responsibilities. The ideological origins of the United 
States are bound to the growth and government recognition of individual 
liberties, such as the right to own property. This was a new concept in the 



196 Chapter 9

Western world. Previously, kings and lords controlled the land, and the 
lower classes paid a fee to use it. In the United States, however, the demo-
cratically elected government took the place of the overlords, and the people 
still paid a fee, or tax, for use of the land.

Shared public goods, such as an educated citizenry, must be paid for 
from the public purse somehow. The property tax is the least volatile and is 
the closest to a tax on wealth the Commonwealth has. In the sixth most re-
gressive state tax system, it represents a small victory for a fairer tax struc-
ture. Low income residents already pay disproportionately more of their 
paychecks toward the sales and income taxes—the two taxes advocates for 
property tax elimination champion as a replacement. Increases in these taxes 
would hurt the middle and working classes much more than the rich. Simple 
economics dictates that those too poor to own homes still pay property taxes 
through rent. Landlords are unlikely to pass on their savings in whole. Ad-
ditionally, business would get a huge tax break if they did not have to pay 
property taxes. Instead, their gain would result in the loss of more hard-
earned income on the part of workers.

Many complain elderly citizens are particularly hurt by the existence of 
the property tax. However, programs already exist to target relief in this 
demographic in addition to the homestead exemption available to all owner-
occupiers. Others lament that they should not have to pay taxes toward a 
system in which they have no children. Such individualistic thinking is 
counter to any reasonable notion of civic responsibility or continuity be-
tween generations. The property tax is not paying the government for the use 
of your own property, but an investment in the community, and when spent 
on public education, future generations of well-informed citizens capable of 
governing themselves.

For More Information

The Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal office (http:// www .ifo .state .pa .us) 
provides revenue projections and policy analysis on various tax propos-
als for the public and General Assembly. Their website has a dedicated 
section on the property tax.

The Tax Foundation (https:// taxfoundation .org) is a long-running nonprofit 
tracking tax policy across the United States. Their website has a wealth 
of information on federal and state tax policy, as well as tax law.

The Tax Policy Center (https:// www .taxpolicycenter .org) is a joint venture 
of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute that provides re-
search for the public and policy makers on tax policy.

From Pennsylvania Politics and Policy: A Commonwealth Reader, Volume 2. Edited 
by Michelle J. Atherton and J. Wesley Leckrone (Philadelphia, Temple University 
Press, 2019).




