The presentation of Act 72 legislation at Palmerton Area School Board stunned a flock of fully attentive people, who seemed to get lost amidst superfluous complexities of the new law, targeting to lower school property taxes, through expectancy of gambling proceeds and local earned income tax. In vain did David Davare of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association spend more than two hours explaining the essence of the legislation at Palmerton Area High School. Many questions were still hovering in the air.
Once the school board sets to take on the legislation, the best-case scenario is that the Palmerton residents with an average income of $56,000 will have to weather the annual curtail of $200 off the property tax bill. Otherwise, it may crawl to higher figures. If a school board chooses Act 72, it will be obliged to determine an earned income tax rate which will either begin with the .01 percent rate or higher. The later will require a fall referendum. If the residents oppose the higher rate, it will remain at the same .01 value.
In approval of Act 72, school districts will have to first approve their budgets and even if gambling proceeds yield lower rates than expected, will be allowed to no more than a 3 percent tax increase each year. If the Act 72 will get rejected, by them there is no turning back and the future opting would be impossible.
