A Senate Appropriations subcommittee yesterday took testimony on Governor Tom Wolf’s proposal to levy a $25 per person tax on residents of municipalities which have no local police protection. Wolf called it a “fee”. Senators and the people who spoke yesterday characterized it as a tax. Whatever you want to call it, it’s $25 for every man, woman, and child in every township or borough with no local police.
In Indiana County, which ranks eleventh in the state in the number of people relying solely on state police, Wolf’s proposal would amount to $1.5 million in new taxes. According to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, White Township is the eight-largest uncovered township in the state, with about 16,300 residents. They’d have to pay $407,500.
One of those testifying yesterday was Elam Herr, the Assistant Director of the State Association of Township Supervisors, who predicted that $25 would only be a starting point. Herr also told the senators that by law, townships are not permitted to increase per capita taxes to collect the so-called “fees”, and per capita applies only to adults, so there would be only one alternative: increasing property taxes, since per capita taxes apply only to adults and are capped at $10, half of which is designated for schools.
The governor’s proposal, which he made in February during his budget address, is not expected to get far in the legislature, particularly in this budget cycle.
