By Tim McNellie
Peters Township School District won’t be gambling on the state’s legalized slot machine initiative, known as ACT 72.
The school board unanimously declined to participate in the program, which is designed to provide property tax relief through slot machine revenue at racetracks and casinos throughout the state.
The vote was the result of board members being uncomfortable with the wording and restrictions placed on districts as the result of the law.
“After one forum and another public meeting on Act 72, the board believed that the feedback from the public indicated that the taxpayers of Peters Township did not wish the board to enter into Act 72,” read a statement from the district.
Peters isn’t alone, as some 80 percent of schools across the state also rejected the plan, prompting some in Harrisburg to consider legislation that would force schools to participate.
After investigating ACT 72, the district concluded that Peters taxpayers, for the most part, would end of paying far more in increased wage taxes than they would receive in property tax reductions.
ACT 72 requires school districts partaking in the program to raise their wage taxes before receiving any gambling money. Whether that gambling money will materialize in the amounts the state plans is another point of contention for districts opting out of the plan.
The state must accumulate $900 million before funds will be made available to schools. Licensing revenues could raise $600 million of that in the first year, but for the rest, every adult in Pennsylvania would have to lose $97 on the slots that first year, according to some estimates. To maintain funding in the following years, every adult would need to lose $330 annually.
Also under the law, school districts would be required to place some tax increases on a referendum ballot, allowing the community as a whole to decide whether the school’s budget is appropriate.
Studies show that most people without children in school vote against such tax increases, a fact that could require long and potentially expensive public relations campaigns if a school needs to raise revenue.
In other states, such as Ohio and New York, where similar referendum bills have been passed, districts have had to cut programs such as athletics and transportation in order to achieve a balanced budget.
