Swann Announces Plan for Property Tax Relief

4 Point Plan Provides Relief for All Homeowners in 1st Year of Swann Admin.

In a speech to the Pennsylvania Press Club in Harrisburg,
Lynn Swann detailed his plan for long term reform of Pennsylvania’s property tax system, including property tax relief for every homeowner in the first year of his Administration and eliminates current assessments in favor of a new system that sets property taxes according to the actual purchase price of one’s home.

“After almost four years under Ed Rendell, Pennsylvanians have seen their school property taxes jump by a total of almost $1.5 billion dollars,” he said. “I believe that we cannot afford another four years before we take real action to meet the promise of Pennsylvania.”

“As Governor, I will work to accomplish two simple goals – to provide property tax relief to every homeowner during the first year of a Swann Administration, and to set a course for long-term reform of a system that today places an onerous and unfair burden on those who can least afford it.”

During his remarks, Swann outlined a four point plan he said would serve as the key principles of necessary reform of a system he called “onerous” and “unfair.” The four key points of Swann’s plan are as follows:

Immediately reduce school property taxes for our most burdened property taxpayers.
Constrain spending and infuse predictability by prohibiting any increases greater than the rate of inflation.

Eliminate the current arbitrary system of property tax assessments and replace it with an understandable system based on the purchase price of the property.
Reform the current local taxing structure for all property owners to create a fair and predictable system.

Swann and his Lt. Governor running mate, Jim Matthews, have been traveling across the Commonwealth highlighting their policy proposals to make Pennsylvania more competitive, create more and higher paying jobs, and to meet the needs of a changing Pennsylvania.

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