Defense attorney: Hernandez witnessed killing

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Gov. Tom Wolf&#8217;s budget acknowledges the problem of property taxes, but his proposals fall short of the goal.His proposals increase the personal income tax rate, from 3.07 percent to 3.70 percent, to raise $2.41 billion. His plan calls for using only $2.14 billion of that to reduce, but not replace, school district property taxes. He also calls for a 10 percent increase in the state sale tax, from 6 percent to 6.6 percent, to bring in an additional $1.55 billion in tax revenues. None of the new sales tax revenue would be dedicated to reduce school property taxes.Gov. Wolf is attempting to tie his property tax relief to House and Senate Bill 76. He is selling his plan as real relief, but it is a trade in which taxpayers lose. Senate Bill/House Bill 76 raises over $11 billion necessary to eliminate school property taxes by increasing the state&#8217;s personal income tax from 3.07 percent to 4.34 percent, increasing the state&#8217;s sales and use tax from 6 percent to 7 percent and expanding the sales tax base to cover more goods and services.House and Senate Bill 76 will kill off the property tax beast altogether so it can never return.The governor&#8217;s plan would allow this monster to survive and continue to devour new local tax revenues year after year. One-third of Pennsylvania&#8217;s school districts raised property taxes above the capped 2.1 percent increase. The nightmare scenario would play out in a matter of years: increased income taxes, sales taxes and, again, higher school property taxes.Wolf&#8217;s plan, if it is implemented, raises taxes by $8 billion and returns only $3.6 billion to taxpayers for property tax relief. It is a bait-and-switch tactic employed by a tax-and-spend governor.Wolf&#8217;s plan is a scam, the same as former Gov. Ed Rendell&#8217;s 2004 signature to use casino tax money to provide &#8220;tax relief.&#8221; Contact your governor and your elected officials; tell them we want repeal, not reform.Charles UrbanPresidentLuzerne County Taxpayers AssociationKingston

Letter to the Editor: Advocate of property tax elimination calls Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget a ‘scam’