I'm tired of hearing Pennsylvania politicians say cutting property taxes is too difficult a task for them.
Gov. Ed Rendell and Legislative leaders from both parties have said repeatedly that property tax reform has been the No. 1 priority in Harrisburg for 30 years, but nobody has been able to solve the problem.
That's nonsense. Rendell and the Legislature are full of baloney. Property taxes can be cut. But Pennsylvania politicians lack the will to do the job.
If you want proof that property taxes can cut, look no further than neighboring New Jersey.
In less than one year, Gov. Jon Corzine and the New Jersey state legislature have come up with a plan to deliver property tax relief to nearly all of the state's residents.
I should also note that New Jersey has fewer legislators than Pennsylvania (120 in N.J. compared to 253 in Pennsylvania) and they are paid less than their counterparts in Pennsylvania.
Rendell has been playing a shell game on property taxes for more than four years now. He's managed to distract enough voters with promises of tax relief to get himself re-elected to a second term.
I've never been a fan of Jon Corzine, the multi-millionaire businessman who bought his way into public office. After Corzine became bored serving in the U.S. Senate, he took his millions and purchased the governor's seat in New Jersey.
But I have to tip my hat to Corzine. As a candidate, he promised to cut New Jersey property taxes, which are even higher than property taxes in Pennsylvania.
After one year in office, Corzine kept his word. He is about to sign a $2.3 billion property tax relief bill for New Jersey residents. About 2 million N.J. residents will see tax breaks averaging $1,051 under the tax-relief plan. State officials predict that 95 percent of the New Jersey households will benefit from the tax cuts.
Contrast that with Gov. Rendell, Corzine's fellow tax-and-spend liberal across the Delaware River.
Candidate Rendell promised to cut property taxes for all Pennsylvania residents by 30 percent. That was in 2002. Gov. Rendell reneged on the promise in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Safely re-elected to a second term, Rendell is now talking about raising — not lowering — taxes.
Even his proposal to raise the sales tax in order to cut property taxes is smoke and mirrors. Only one-third of the money from the increased sales tax would go to property tax relief. The rest would feed Ed Spendell’s enormous appetite for spending.
Rendell's parlor tricks with Pennsylvania’s budget have caught the attention of Americans for Tax Reform, a non-partisan coalition of taxpayers and taxpayer groups in Washington, D.C.
"Maybe next year, Gov. 'Spendell' should just use his budget as a list of taxes he does NOT want to raise," said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. "That would probably save his staff some time and paper."
In addition to his 2002 boast that he could cut property taxes standing on his head, Rendell also promised that Act 72 would help lower property taxes. That was a lie.
Rendell promised that the approval of casino gambling in Pennsylvania would lower property taxes. More lies.
Rendell promised that Act 1 would lead to lower taxes. He lied again.
Now Rendell is promising to cut property taxes if the Legislature approves a 16.7-percent increase in the state sales tax. If he lied to us in each of his first four years in office, why would anyone think Rendell will keep his promise?
That is a question voters need to pose to the 102 Democrats in the state House and the 21 Democrats in the state Senate. How far are these lemmings willing to follow Rendell? Especially when Ed Spendell's policies will sink Pennsylvania into a fiscal crisis.
Pennsylvania voters need to make sure their state legislators understand that if they vote for any more Rendell tax increases, they will be out of a job in 2008.
Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. Tony recently was awarded First Prize in Opinion Columns from the 2,000 member national trade organization Suburban Newspapers of America. The Mercury won seven awards, more than any other newspaper in the Pennsylvania. E-mail him at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
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