What's up with new tax in PA because of slot machines?
Can anyone from PA tell me why my taxes are going to go up with this new slot machine legislation? It turns out that I will be getting a new "earned income" tax on top of all the other taxes we have to pay. This so called property tax relief we are to get won"t kick in for another 6 years they say. Sounds like a loser proposition. They also say that legislatures can get a piece of the action from the slot places that they help to license. That sounds pretty crooked. I see the slums coming to PA really soon.
RE: What's up with new tax in PA because of slot machines?
That's a good point. I didn't vote for him. If I lived in Philly I wouldn't have voted for him there either. It's Philly that will lose PA for Bush. Way too many liberals in the city. We PA residents that live in the real part of the state have heads on our shoulders and are rational. Oh yeah - sorry if I offended any conservatives who live within the city limits.
RE: What's up with new tax in PA because of slot machines?
I'm not a PA resident ,
but my guess is that the "earned income" tax is to make up for the revenue the state will lose from the tax breaks they probably gave the slot owners as an incentive to locate there . "Getting a piece of the take" is common practice . The county I live in gets tax revenue from a riverboat casino located on our southern edge . they share this money with the poorer county nextdoor as consolation for not getting the boat themselves , though not equally .
I have to say , since the boat came here we have a lot more paved county roads than we used to , new road signs , more money for the local schools . Overall it's been a pretty positive experience , and the casino has proved to be a good corporate neighbor . Our property taxes went down from the start . I now pay about 1/3 less than before .
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RE: What's up with new tax in PA because of slot machines?
Don't worry, we already have the 2nd highest overall taxes in the country and our squaw humper teacher's union lovin' governor is talking about raising the sales tax 1% to "cover the schools"
We already have the most expensive school system in the country and have one of the lowest college grad rates -- because of no jobs...
RE: What's up with new tax in PA because of slot machines?
They have river boat gambling in Kansas City.
Their average take is $2million a day, 24/7.
That is $2milion a day that is not going to worthwhile businesses.
Lottery, gambling, slots were supposed to be our Saving Grace here in Kansas.
It was better before.
Now we have people that can't afford squat but they are spending like crazy on gambling because they just know they will "get rich."
Any politician that thinks gambling is good for the economy, is a fool.
RE: What's up with new tax in PA because of slot machines?
Senators Vote Yes On Slots House To Vote Friday
POSTED: 8:36 am EDT July 2, 2004
UPDATED: 11:57 am EDT July 2, 2004
PITTSBURGH -- After hours of debate, the state Senate said yes to slots overnight. That vote happened around 2:30 a.m. Friday.
The final tally was 30 to 20, with all 21 Democrats approving the measure. It now heads to the state House for approval.
House Republican Leader Sam Smith said he is 99 percent certain it will pass.
The bill will allow up to 61,000 slot machines. A gambling commission can then award licenses for 14 sites. At least seven licenses would go to racetracks, five for "stand alone" sites and two licenses at resorts. And at least one of those sites would be in Pittsburgh.
The bill is expected to generate $1 billion in revenue. Millions of that money would benefit public projects.
Allegheny County would get about $400 million. Of that, $150 million would go toward reducing the debt at Pittsburgh International Airport.
Airport Authority spokesperson Joann Jenny said, "That, in effect, is going to help us maintain a competitive profile among airports across the country. It will help us keep our main tenant, US Airways. It will also help us attract new airlines by reducing the cost for the airlines to operate at Pittsburgh International."
One of the reasons US Airways threatened to leave is because it pays a substantial part of the airport's $160 million debt.
What's Next For The Bill?
It heads to the state House for approval.
House leaders said they won't vote on it until they can consider a companion piece of legislation.
That bill would distribute the gambling revenue to school districts to reduce property taxes.
Harrisburg, Pa. -- Working through the night in an election-year push, Pennsylvania lawmakers Sunday sent Gov. Ed Rendell a pair of bills that will legalize slot-machine gambling to finance $1 billion a year in property-tax reductions for homeowners across the state.
Following the Senate's lead, the House approved the slots bill 113-88 following an 81/2-hour debate that ended shortly after 1:30 a.m. The property tax bill passed 164-37 after much less discussion.
Rendell, a Democrat who had made slots-for-tax-relief the centerpiece of his 2002 election campaign, celebrated with leaders of both parties who compromised to make the legislation possible.
"A good example of government working for the people," Rendell said in a news conference in the Capitol Rotunda shortly before dawn.
Opponents of the slots bill, who made most of the floor speeches, predicted a proliferation of crime, addiction and other social ills. They complained that the bill was crafted in secret by a handful of party leaders and lacks adequate safeguards against corruption and conflicts of interest among members of the state panel that would oversee the proposed 14 slots parlors.
"This really scares me, and it ought to scare you," said Rep. Kerry A. Benninghoff, R-Centre.
Rep. Daryl D. Metcalfe, R-Butler, called the legislation "Machiavellian" and "extremely flawed." He said it would spawn increases in crime, bankruptcies, divorce and child abuse.
"Our new revenue could easily be zeroed out" by the costs of coping with those problems, he said.
House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese accused the bill's critics of "demagoguing" in an attempt to kill the measure.
"We are at the threshold of a historic moment," said DeWeese, D-Greene.
Action on the two bills was delayed for hours Saturday as Rendell's administration and leaders of the Republican legislative majority wrangled behind the scenes over details in a $23 billion state budget that should have been in place when the new fiscal year began Thursday.
The Senate approved the slots bill Friday and the tax bill early Saturday. Together, the bills authorize as many as 61,000 slot machines -- more than any other state except Nevada -- and most of the resulting tax revenue would be used to reduce local property taxes by an average 20 percent.
A new gambling commission with broad powers would issue slots licenses to racetracks, resorts and other sites for fees ranging up to $50 million apiece.
The bill would make Pennsylvania the 18th state to legalize slot-machine gambling, not counting casinos run by Indian tribes, according to the American Gaming Association.
Of the roughly $3 billion a year slots are expected to generate, the licensees would keep 48 percent, the state would get 34 percent and the rest would be divided among the equine industry, public construction projects, and counties and municipalities in which slots parlors are located.
Proponents said the bill will enable the state to recapture much of the money Pennsylvanians currently pour into slot machines in neighboring states and help revive the state's horse racing industry.
The property-tax reduction will not be immediate. Officials say the initial relief would be deferred until at least 2006 to allow time for the slots parlors to obtain licenses and gear up.
Ultimately, state taxes on slots are expected to generate $1 billion a year for reducing property taxes in all but one of the state's 501 school districts. In Philadelphia, there would be reductions in the city's wage tax.
"It is a substantial reduction for our citizens, no matter how we cut it," said Rep. Kevin Blaum, D-Luzerne.
Districts will be awarded a share of the money based on a formula that looks at its wealth, student enrollment and other factors. Each district's share will be evenly divided among homeowners who apply for "homestead exclusions" that would be used to reduce their tax bills.
In order to take advantage of the reduced property taxes, school boards will be required to increase local income taxes by 0.1 percent.
Opposition to the bill centered around a provision that bars school districts in most cases from increasing property by more than the inflation rate without voter approval. Critics said it will unfairly hamstring local officials trying to cope with rising costs.
"School districts are going to be bound up in the future because of this legislation," predicted Rep. Peter J. Daley, D-Washington.
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Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
RE: What's up with new tax in PA because of slot machines?
In Kansas we were told that property taxes would go down.
They haven't yet, after more than 15 years.
Now they say,"think what your taxes would be if we didn't have gambling"
BULL.
Every dollar spent on gambling is a dollar that sales tax is not paid.
It is beyond my imagination how people think gamling will fix anything.
What's up with new tax in PA because of slot machines?
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