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IMPORTANT
NEWS CONCERNING SCHOOL TAX REFORM IN PENNSYLVANIA YOU WILL
RECEIVE YOUR HOMESTEAD/FARMSTEAD APPLICATION MAILING SOON! This month
school districts in Bucks County and across the state will begin to mail
homestead/farmstead applications to property owners as the first step in
complying with the Homeowners Property Tax Relief Act (Act 72). More than three
million property owners in all counties except Philadelphia will receive an
application for the Act, which potentially may provide property tax relief to
homeowners with gaming revenues. School
officials in the Neshaminy School District remind property owners that potential
property tax reduction is not automatic. Owner-occupied residential property and
agricultural property owners will receive an application from the school
district and must first apply to the county.
If an application is not filed by the appropriate deadlines, property
owners will not be eligible. School boards
must then decide by May 30, 2005 if the district will participate in Act 72.
If a district does not, state property tax relief funds from gaming
licenses and operations will not be paid. The
state funds plus the revenue raised by new mandatory income taxes of at least
.1% will provide the property tax relief. Following
that process, the potential property tax reduction will appear on tax bills for
owner-occupied properties that have approved homestead/farmstead applications
(commercial and industrial property owners are not eligible for Act 72).
A second mailing will be made by the district before the end of the year
to those who have not responded to the first mailing. -MORE- School
officials stress that potential property tax relief will not be immediate to
property owners. State payments to
school districts for property tax reduction are not anticipated until at least
the 2006-07 school year or later. The completed
application should be mailed to the county assessor at the address indicated on
the application form. The deadline for submission is March 01,
2005.
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