Home >  Opinion

Tuesday, January 29, 2002

It's time to abolish the property tax and substitute a sales tax

Finally, our county officials got a message from the insulted, humiliated, frustrated, financially wounded homeowners. But they got the wrong message. Homeowners, battle-scarred from fighting assessment increases of as much as 90 percent, do not want a reduction in the millage, particularly a paltry 11 percent. They do not want assessments frozen or reduced. They want the assessment system outlawed, abolished, vaporized. The property tax must go!

As far back as 1983, state Sen. Eugene Scanlon Sr. introduced a bill (S. 257) that would have abolished the ridiculous property tax, replacing it with a broad-based levy, such as a modest sales tax. It was an excellent bill, but it died in committee. And unfortunately, Sen. Scanlon has died.

Those of us who supported the proposed abolition of the tax predicted alarming circumstances unless the public was rescued from the unfair tax, which even back then was getting out of control. The tax cannot be defended. It must be replaced, statewide, with a sales tax. Each penny tax creates $1 billion a year in Pennsylvania. We pay for sports facilities through such a tax, and we can pay for schools and services the same, painless way.

All that it takes to eliminate the property tax plague is for one of our 253 state legislators to introduce a bill, as Sen. Scanlon did, and see that it passes.

Caution: Please, no Mickey Mouse bills that would create a mish-mash combination of an income tax, a sales tax and a continuation of a property tax at reduced rates. No, no, no. One tax, a sales tax, is the answer.

So there it is, folks: A few pennies from each of us, and we wipe out a nightmare. Just think, we could return to enjoying that American dream of living in our homes without fear of ending up out on the street.

Yes, there will be life after the property tax.

GEORGE KELLY
North Side

Our officials have no vision

I wish to express in the strongest terms possible my opposition to the property tax for homeowners.

We are burdened by a more than 200-year-old tax that has worked only to fill the treasury of local and county governments. Our elected representatives lack the vision to make changes or pledge to work for an alternative. No one has come forward to display the anger necessary to attack such a repressive, unfair tax.

Since Pennsylvania is a follower and not a leader, it can look to other states that have abolished property tax. This could provide the foundation necessary to adopt a workable plan.

Our elected officials remain silent until election time. Until these officials and candidates speak out loud and clear to work furiously to eliminate this unfair tax, I will refuse to be solicited for my vote. I will work to expose their deficiencies.

PAUL PONGRACE
McCandless

Market value challenge

If Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey feels that this year's round of assessments is accurate and sound, I issue him this challenge: Instead of the appeals process, which puts the burden of proof on the homeowner, why not require Allegheny County to purchase houses at the current assessed value?

Since Mr. Roddey feels that these assessments reflect the "fair market value" of each home, the county should have no problem recouping any investments made in this program. In theory, this would be a financial windfall for the county since real estate is still a strong investment.

Would this work in the real world? No! People who sell their homes to the county surely would move elsewhere, thus creating more supply than demand. With supply high and demand low, property values would certainly decrease.

As the tax base shrinks and property values decrease, so too will tax revenue.

It may be prudent for Mr. Roddey to reassess his meaning of "fair market value."

PAUL JANDA
South Park

Our feelings exactly

Bravo to Nicole Walsh ("We Are Being Outpriced From Our Hard-Earned Homes," Jan. 21 letters) for her acute and oh-so-accurate summary of the collective feelings of many Pittsburghers and Allegheny County residents regarding the 2002 reassessments. The overexploitation of homeowners simply must not stand.

Market value is what a buyer is willing to pay for your property. Market value does not change on the whim of a tax assessor. Market value does not increase as a function of an overextended county budget and generally does not change in a short period of time. So, why not let the sale price of our homes stand and reassess them individually at 10-year intervals using realistic comparables?

Where a current home has not been sold for more than 10 or 15 years, go ahead and have a reassessment to stand for a period of time, but again, use realistic current comps and solve this expensive, infuriating problem, which is indeed causing many solid taxpayers to think about moving out.

ANDREA MUDD
Highland Park

Take note, politicians

Hats off to Nicole Walsh of Banksville for her Jan. 21 letter, "We Are Being Outpriced From Our Hard-Earned Homes." Maybe our Allegheny County Council members and county Chief Executive Jim Roddey might take note and seriously think about this.

One of the reasons Allegheny County's population has decreased is we are being overtaxed. People are seeking real estate just over the border.

As we improve our homes, our tax loads increase. As we clean up our neighborhoods, our tax loads increase. As we commit money to millionaires' playgrounds (stadiums), our tax loads increase. Every improvement we tend to make raises our tax load. It is beyond what many older residents on limited income can afford.

The letter Ms. Walsh wrote speaks out on many issues and is the opinion of many county residents. Remember when the voters said no to additional taxes to support construction of two stadiums? Hence, our politicians satisfied their desires by an end-run play. Remember, most will run for re-election, and voters will justify the county reassessment mess.

RONALD J. FUNK
West Mifflin

Pride should be colorblind

On Feb. 23, 1945, six American soldiers raised a large American flag over Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima. The stage was World War II, a time when America "pulled together as one, overcame differences and subdued past pettiness. Therein lay its inspiration for the rest of the nation." This is how the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks was described in the Jan. 23 editorial "9/11 Literalism."

A statue was created in the exact image of Joe Rosenthal's photograph of these Americans raising Old Glory over Iwo Jima, and race was no issue. The truth was displayed, and no one thought twice about changing the reality of history to include or exclude any races.

The Jan. 23 editorial said a monument proposed by the Fire Department of New York would "sensibly" reflect the diversity of the 343 firefighters killed. But the picture taken by Tom Franklin did not dwell on the death of firefighters. Rather, much like the Iwo Jima picture, the moment captured the spirit of America -- courage, strength and resiliency to overcome tragedy.

How can this ever be changed because "this ratio is not representative of the city itself"? Did not all Americans -- black, white, Hispanic or otherwise -- feel the same pride seeing the flag raised above a pile of rubble?

Bruce Ratner, whose company was going to pay for the planned statue, commented that "questions about race or ethnicity played no part in the brave deeds firefighters performed on Sept. 11, and it does a disservice to the memory of the thousands lost on that day to raise such issues."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

CRAIG M. TUMAS
South Fayette

Turncoats among us

Quoting from Tony Norman's Jan. 25 column ("Errant Son Won't Easily Overcome Sins of the Father"): "John Lindh will have to refute charges he gave aid and comfort to an enemy his country was at war with. It's obvious he turned his back on his country's interests," etc.

Does the name Jane Fonda ring a bell?

JACK CROYLE
Mt. Lebanon

Make sure your own household is all-American before scolding others

I am writing in response to the Jan. 16 letters by M.W. Collier and Bob Wright about the laid-off Ford workers ("Ford's Troubles Show the Folly of Not Buying American" and "Jobs Tied to U.S. Cars"). First, I would like to say that I feel bad that hard-working Americans have lost their jobs. The problem goes deeper than just lost auto jobs. I think it would be safe to say that it would be next to impossible to live the lifestyle we are accustomed to living today on products made only in the United States.

Products from underwear to electronics that are made in the United States are hard to find. I realize that there are many good domestic products out there, but some things are impossible to locate, so we have no choice but to buy imported goods.

If U.S. citizens, including M.W. Collier, Bob Wright and myself, buy anything imported, we contribute to the displacement of an American worker.

It is sad to say in this time of patriotism that many of the products that bear the U.S. flag, or the U.S. flag itself, are imported. Don't condemn me for owning a foreign vehicle until you have looked in your own house and found nothing imported.

M.E. CLAWSON
Indiana, Pa.