The long-anticipated legislation that will triple the state’s
payment on land it owns across northcentral Pennsylvania was
approved Wednesday by the Senate.
The bill to hike the state’s Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT)
from $1.20 an acre to $3.60 an acre will now be forwarded to the
House of Representatives, where it is also expected to be
passed.
State Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, and state Rep. Martin
Causer, R-Turtlepoint, are two supporters of the legislation, which
passed by a 49 to 1 vote in the Senate.
“The state is not paying its fair share, thus the local
taxpayers are having their property taxes raised to foot the bill,”
Scarnati said. “This will not only significantly assist our rural
area, which has too much state land to begin with, but it will also
deter the state from purchasing additional land.”
According to Scarnati, all state forests and parks, as well as
state game lands, are not taxed by the county, municipalities and
school districts. However, many are subjected to PILT, which is
evenly distributed among the three local taxing bodies.
Causer called the passage of the law in the Senate “wonderful
news.”
“Obviously, I will be a prime supporter of getting this through
the House,” Causer said. “Certainly, this is very important for our
area and other places across the state. We need to get it passed
through.”
With the increase, Scarnati pointed out it would cost the state
an additional $8 million of fairness tax to be disbursed to the
counties, municipalities and school districts. Scarnati said while
$8 million is just a small portion of the state’s annual budget, it
will have a considerable impact in rural communities with masses of
state lands.
“Simply put, you cannot have local tax reform to assist in
bringing down skyrocketing property taxes, until the state pays its
fair share for land it owns,” Scarnati said.
Scarnati said in the 25th District, the district he represents,
44 percent of the land is publicly owned.
Of the state land that is subjected to the payment in lieu of
taxes, 2,017,301 acres are forests and state parks; 1,397,429 acres
are game land; and 6,100 acres are owned by the Fish and Boat
Commission.
In the 25th District, McKean County has 24,801.56 acres of game
lands; 3,534.51 acres of state forest land; and 617.98 acres of
state park land. In Potter County, there are 18,696.92 acres of
game lands; 266,847.62 acres of state forest land; and 2,136.75
acres of state park land. Elk County has 72,061.12 acres of game
lands; 73,408.58 of state forest land; and 2,990.36 acres of state
park land. Lastly, Cameron County has 12,963 acres of game lands;
130,535.24 acres of state forest land; and 10,713.40 acres of state
park land.
“This legislation will hold the state accountable for their fair
share,” Scarnati said. “It is just too costly to the local taxing
agencies and their taxpayers.”
The original piece of legislation was introduced in 2003, but
was part of the larger Homeowner Tax Relief Act gambling bill.
Earlier this year, the state Supreme Court determined that PILT’s
inclusion – along with funding for volunteer fire departments – in
the gambling legislation was unconstitutional and violated the
“single subject” of the bill. The court ruled that these items had
to be in a separate piece of legislation.
The bill’s re-introduction is by-and-large a procedural
matter.
