LLA Members Express Mixed Views on Tax Proposal

The never-ending debate over the best method to fund Pennsylvania's public schools has now engaged the legal profession.  The state legislature is again entertaining a proposal to expand the sales tax to, among other things, legal services and eliminate or reduce the dependence of school districts on real estate taxes.

Prominent members of the Lycoming Law Association have expressed vastly different views on the proposal.  Bill Carlucci, a past president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, has been in the forefront of the effort to defeat the effort to add legal services to the list of taxable items.  Carlucci has previously equated such an expansion to a "misery tax" in that it taxes those who are required to seek legal assistance to overcome a hardship.  The PBA has been a strong opponent of the legislation.

On the other hand, Garth Everett, also a member of the LLA and a state Assemblyman, is a sponsor of the bill to revise state taxing methods.  Everett said he supports the legislation because it’s aiming at eliminating property taxes, not just reducing them, while keeping school districts funded at their current levels.  “This is not really a tax reduction,” Everett has been quoted as saying. “It’s a shift. It’s revenue-neutral. Those of us that are proponents of this plan feel that a broadened sales tax base is a fairer way to tax people than property taxes.”

How do you feel about the proposal?  Carlucci has encouraged the membership to write to their state representatives to make their views known.  Of course, he wants members to voice opposition.  Whatever your view, make it known to your fellow LLA member Everett, so that his vote reflects the views of all his constituents.