Letter to the editor: Property tax system must change

The archaic school tax has been used to fund education since the 1830s. My home 0f 39 years cost $40,000, with current Deer Lakes tax at $3,600. I’ve paid for it almost three times over. I’m over 70 with no children and a low to moderate fixed income. My mother, a widower who owned her home for 50 years, had to sell her home in 2005 because of the tax. My parents bought that home new in 1955 for $13,500. Her school tax in Shaler when she sold was $1,500 per year.

Opposition to changing the current system lies mainly with teachers unions, school boards and senators. Senators voting against school tax relief in 2016 were:

• Democrats: John Blake, Jay Costa, Lawrence Farnese, Arthur Haywood, Vincent Hughes, Shirley Kitchen, Daylin Leach, John Sabatina, Christine Tartaglione, Rob Teplitz, Sean Wiley, Anthony Williams and Gov. Tom Wolf.

• Republicans: Michele Brooks, Jake Corman, John Gordner, Stewart Greenleaf, Scott Hutchinson, Thomas McGarrigle, Chuck McIlhinney, Dominic Pileggi, Tommy Tomlinson, Pat Vance, Kim Ward and Gene Yaw.

We need to elect candidates who support the people. Thanks to Sen. David Argall and David Baldinger, of the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition, for their support of the Property Tax and Independence Act, Senate Bill 76. View this bill and perform your own calculations and savings. Everyone in Pennsylvania should be responsible for funding. Write to your representatives.

John Lambert

West Deer