The Pottsville Area School District raises approximately $8,541 in local school revenue per student, indicating it is inadequately funded. (Credit: Pottsville School District)
For every dollar of Pennsylvania public school funding, about 44 cents comes from local property taxes. A new proposal from two Republican state senators would eliminate those taxes entirely.
Introduced by Sen. Chris Gebhard (R-48) and Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33), Senate Bill 929 is a constitutional amendment that would prohibit school districts from collecting property taxes. If approved by the General Assembly during two consecutive legislative sessions, the amendment would appear on the ballot for voters to decide on.
Since a Commonwealth Court judge declared Pennsylvania’s public school funding system unconstitutional in 2023, the need for reform has become even more urgent. Yet, the total elimination of school property taxes is a contentious debate, with some residents desperate for tax relief while others fear the impact on their local schools.
Susan Spicka is a parent from Shippensburg and the Executive Director of Education Voters Pennsylvania, a non-profit organization that aims to promote a pro-public education agenda in government. She said that most who analyze Pennsylvania’s public school funding system conclude that it contains many flaws.
In Pennsylvania, the state government provides approximately 38% of public education funding, ranking the state 45th in the nation for its state share of school funding. Since the state share is so low, much of public school funding comes from local sources.
“On a basic level, the way we fund schools in Pennsylvania, there’s a humungous overreliance on property taxes to start out with — that is the crux of the school funding problem that we have,” said Spicka.
Not only can property taxes amount to a high proportion of a family’s income — for low-income families, it can be up to 4.9% — but they also lead to disparities in school funding between wealthier and poorer areas. Because property taxes on more expensive homes generate more revenue, school funding varies widely by neighborhood, leading to inequities in educational resources.
Because of this funding imbalance, two years ago, a state judge ruled that the current system is unconstitutional. The court ordered the state legislature to reform the system to ensure that students from all economic backgrounds have the same access to a quality education.
At the same time, other property tax opponents focus on the financial pressure that such taxes place on Pennsylvania residents, particularly for the elderly and low-income families. The Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition formed to advocate for the elimination of property taxes, and on their site, they share dozens of stories written by residents burdened by high taxes.
Carol Moyer from Chester County wrote how, to pay her ever-rising property taxes, she was forced to rely on her daughter and was considering a reverse mortgage.
“My deceased husband and I worked hard for 20+ years to pay this house off, and only when he passed away and the insurance paid it off was it free and clear,” said Moyer. “Now I have to re-mortgage it to pay my taxes?”
Senators Gebhard and Mastriano emphasized the economic strain on their constituents as the cause for proposing the constitutional amendment.
“It’s time we stop punishing homeowners for owning a piece of the American dream,” said Mastriano in a release. “We will not rest until this burden is lifted and justice is restored for our retirees, our families, and all those who simply want to live in peace in the homes they rightfully own.”
According to a spokesperson for Gebhard, the bill does not outline an alternative funding source for public schools by design. They said that progress inevitably stalls due to disagreements over how to replace the funding. So, Gebhard’s approach is to eliminate school property taxes first, and then set a firm date by which the General Assembly must pass a new funding structure.
Previous versions of local property tax legislation aimed to lock in current spending levels by replacing local property tax revenue with funds from other state taxes, such as the sales or income tax. However, critics say that this approach does not address the state court’s directive that the current funding system is unconstitutional.
Take three school districts, for example. Based on data from the Pennsylvania Policy Center, Lower Merion raises $31,402 in local school revenue per student, Pittsburgh raises $19,774, and Pottsville Area raises $8,541.
A funding structure based on current spending levels would require everyone to pay an additional state tax, but a disproportionate share of that money would flow to districts like Lower Merion, which already spend the most per student. As a result, Pottsville residents would end up sending more of their tax dollars to a wealthy district instead of supporting their own.
“The idea that we would eliminate property taxes and lock in place the current school funding levels means that we would lock in place the inequities that we have right now,” said Spicka.
Though property taxes have their issues, analysts note that they are a stable tax that is suitable to support public schools. Revenue from sales and income taxes can fluctuate with general economic conditions, which poses problems for public schools since they require consistent funding.
Further, state funding would have to be legislated every year in the annual budget — and the 2025-26 budget is currently three weeks overdue. Even state lawmakers agree that they sometimes lack punctuality.
“We are not good at having an on-time budget,” said Rep. Lisa Borowski (D-168), who serves Delaware County. “School districts set their budget at the end of June, and right now, our school districts have no idea how much money they are getting from the state. How would school districts deal with that?”
Borowski called the proposed bill “performative legislation”: an idea that sounds appealing in a press release but lacks practical implementation.
Public school funding can be convoluted, as both state and local sources have positive and negative aspects. Yet, Spicka said that the state legislature might already have part of the solution.
Last year, the General Assembly approved a new methodology for public education funding in order to address the disparities unearthed by the state court ruling. A special commission identified a $4.5 billion “adequacy gap” owed to 348 underfunded districts, and created a formula for funding to even the imbalance.
In the 2024-25 state budget, the Commonwealth funneled almost $500 million to school districts in need through the formula. While that installment addressed only 11% of the adequacy gap, using the formula for further investment could help ease the burden of property taxes on low-income communities and address educational disparities.
“If we could just let the remedy play out, then we would be in very good shape,” said Spicka.
Public school advocates would like the state to increase their share of education spending to at least 50%, which would be on par with the rest of the country.
That said, Spicka noted that the local control that school districts exert through property taxes is still valuable. She suggested that circuit breakers could help address excessively high property taxes by capping them once they reach a certain percentage of an individual’s income.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA), which was founded in 1895 as the nation’s first school board association, highlighted the importance of predictable funding that would not leave districts in a financially vulnerable position.
A PSBA spokesperson said that any changes to the current funding methods should be carefully analyzed “to ensure that schools can properly fund their students, staff, and operations in a timely and consistent manner.”
Given that the bill is a constitutional amendment, Spicka said a proposal to eliminate property taxes would be “dangerous” on the ballot, as many voters might seize the chance to ban an unpopular tax without fully understanding the consequences.
“They wouldn't have any idea what that would mean for their schools, what that would mean for their income and sales tax, or what that would even mean for their property value,” said Spicka.
If Senate Bill 929 passes according to Gebhard and Mastriano’s plans, the earliest it could take effect would be approximately 2028.
