Homestead/Farmstead a Diminishing Tax Relief

The state of Pennsylvania has just released the amount of tax relief each school district home owner will receive from gambling revenue.

 "It's something that's been in law for five to seven years," said Tim Eller, press secretary for the Department of Education.

 The Homestead/Farmstead Exclusion is a "credit to home owners' tax payment," explained Andrew Drake, treasurer for the Plum Borough School District. "It's a fixed amount of dollars."

 That fixed amount for Plum is $1,653,143, and for Riverview it is $355,417.

 "There are 24 more people who qualified this year," Drake said, indicating that the more who apply for the relief, the less each household gets.

 "(The schools) don't lose a cent because it's revenue neutral," said Eugene J. Marraccini, director of business affairs for the Plum School District. "It doesn't hit us, it hits the taxpayer."

 The approximately $1.6 million may seem like a lot of money, but divided between 7,856 homesteads and farmsteads, it amounts to only $210 dollars per home in Plum. Riverview School District home owners only receive $168.

 "The actual money is determined by the law that takes into consideration the student population, population of the district, the wealth of the district and tax revenues," Eller said. "Average daily membership of the district/Aid ratio/Local taxes they collect are plugged into a formula."

Eller admits that this formula is complicated, yielding property tax reduction allocation ranging from $15,577,517 for the Pittsburgh School District to $355,417  for Riverview School District, on the low end. However, with 2,910 approved applicants, Avonworth home owners receive only $85 of relief per home/farm.  

While the money comes from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Marraccini emphasized that the program is "run by the county" under Act 1 of 2006.