Pennsylvania Allow Local Taxing Authorities to Exempt Full Value of Homestead Amendment (2017)

Pennsylvania Homestead Exemption Amendment
Election date November 7, 2017
Topic Taxes and Property
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

2017 measures
November 7, 2017
Pennsylvania Homestead Exemption Amendment

The Pennsylvania Allow Local Taxing Authorities to Exempt Full Value of Homestead Amendment was on the ballot in Pennsylvania as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 7, 2017. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported this amendment to allow the state legislature to increase the amount of a home's assessed value that local taxing authorities―counties, municipalities, and school districts―are permitted to exempt from taxes. The amendment increased the amount from up to 50 percent of the median value of all homesteads within their jurisdictions to up to 100 percent of the assessed value of each homestead.

A "no" vote opposed this amendment to allow the legislature to permit local taxing authorities to exempt up to 100 percent of the assessed value of each homestead from taxes. Rejection of the amendment would have kept the amount that local taxing authorities are permitted to exempt at up to 50 percent of the median value of all homesteads within their jurisdictions.

Election results

Homestead Exemption Amendment
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		963,324	53.99%
No		821,002	46.01%

Election results from Pennsylvania Elections Office

Overview

Amendment design

The measure made changes to Resolution 1, a constitutional amendment passed in 1997. Resolution 1 was designed to allow local taxing authorities—counties, municipalities, and school districts—to exempt up to 50 percent of the median value of all homesteads within their jurisdictions from taxes. The value amount exempted from taxes is known as a homestead exemption. This 2017 amendment increased the homestead exemption amount that local taxing authorities would be allowed to offer homeowners. Rather than 50 percent of the median value of all homesteads, this amendment was designed to allow for exemptions of 100 percent of the value of each homestead. In other words, this amendment allowed local taxing authorities to charge homestead owners zero property taxes. The amendment was designed to require the Pennsylvania State Legislature to pass implementing legislation for the amendment to take effect.

How the formula worked before the election:

Resolution 1 was designed to allow local taxing authorities—counties, municipalities, and school districts—to exempt up to 50 percent of the median value of all homesteads within their jurisdictions from taxes.

For example, if the median value of all homes in a school district was $200,000, the school district was permitted to exempt $100,000 from each home's taxable value.

How the formula works according to the amendment:

The 2017 constitutional amendment was designed to allow local taxing authorities—counties, municipalities, and school districts—to exempt up to 100 percent of the value of each homestead. The median value of homes within a jurisdiction does not matter under this formula.

Under the amendment, a school district, for example, is allowed to exempt the full value of a home. If a home is valued at $200,000, up to $200,000 could be exempted from its taxable value.

Implementing legislation

This 2017 amendment required implementing legislation—a bill or set of bills designed to carry out the amendment's stated intent. As of October 26, 2017, implementing legislation had not been passed for this amendment. After voters approved Resolution 1 in 1997, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 50, which included implementing legislation for Resolution 1. Act 50 provided a method for school districts to make up lost revenue from enacting Resolution 1's homestead exemption. Districts were allowed to tax earned income at 1.5 percent or less in exchange for reducing property taxes if voters approved the income tax in a local referendum. New implementing legislation was needed for the 2017 amendment.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The official ballot title was as follows:

“

Proposed Constitutional Amendment Amending the Homestead Property Tax Assessment Exclusion Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to permit the General Assembly to enact legislation authorizing local taxing authorities to exclude from taxation up to 100 percent of the assessed value of each homestead property within a local taxing jurisdiction, rather than limit the exclusion to one-half of the median assessed value of all homestead property, which is the existing law?

”

Ballot summary

The following was the attorney general's summary of the amendment:

The purpose of the ballot question is to amend Article VIII, Section 2(b)(vi) of the Pennsylvania Constitution to permit the General Assembly to pass a law authorizing local taxing authorities to increase the amount of assessed value of homestead property that may be excluded when determining the real estate tax owed for homestead property. If the ballot question is approved, the General Assembly could then pass a law authorizing local taxing authorities to exclude up to one-hundred percent (100%) of the assessed value of each homestead property when calculating the real estate tax owed on homestead property. The Pennsylvania Constitution currently permits the General Assembly to pass a law authorizing local taxing authorities to exclude only a portion of the assessed value of homestead property when determining the amount of real estate tax owed. Under current law, the amount of assessed value that may be excluded from taxation cannot exceed onehalf the amount of the median assessed value of all homestead property within a local taxing jurisdiction. Local taxing authorities may not increase the millage rate of its real property tax to pay for homestead property exclusions. The effect of the ballot question would allow the General Assembly to pass a law increasing the amount of assessed value that local taxing authorities may exclude from real estate taxation for homestead property. Currently, local taxing authorities can exclude from taxation only up to one-half the amount of the median assessed value of all homestead property located in the local taxing jurisdiction. But if the ballot question is approved, the General Assembly would have authority to pass a law permitting local taxing authorities to exclude up to one-hundred percent (100%) of the assessed value of each homestead property. Local taxing authorities would continue to be prohibited from increasing the millage rate of its tax on real property to pay for the homestead exclusions. The ballot question, by itself, does not authorize local taxing authorities to exclude up to one-hundred percent (100%) of the assessed value of each homestead property from real estate taxation. Local taxing authorities could not take such action unless and until the General Assembly passes a law authorizing them to do so. The ballot question authorizes the General Assembly to pass that law.

Constitutional changes

See also: Article VIII, Pennsylvania Constitution

The measure amended Section 2(b)(vi) of Article VIII of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The following underlined text was added, and struck-through text was deleted:

§ 2. Exemptions and special provisions.

...

(b) The General Assembly may, by law:

...

(vi) Authorize local taxing authorities to exclude from taxation an amount based on the assessed value of homestead property. The exclusions authorized by this clause shall not exceed one-half of the median assessed value of all 100% of the assessed value of each homestead property within a local taxing jurisdiction. A local taxing authority may not increase the millage rate of its tax on real property to pay for these exclusions.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2017

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The Pennsylvania secretary of state and Pennsylvania attorney general wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 30, and the FRE is -13. The word count for the ballot title is 60, and the estimated reading time is 18 seconds. The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 18, and the FRE is 25. The word count for the ballot summary is 376, and the estimated reading time is 1 minute, 40 seconds.

Support

Supporters

Officials

The following legislators sponsored the amendment in the state Legislature in 2016, 2017, or both years:

• Rep. David Maloney (R-130)
• Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-134)
• Rep. Joe Emrick (R-137)
• Rep. Rick Saccone (R-39)
• Rep. Rob Kauffman (R-89)
• Rep. Seth Grove (R-196)
• Rep. Steven Mentzer (R-97)
• Rep. Martin Causer (R-67)
• Rep. Neal Goodman (D-123)
• Rep. Bryan Cutler (R-100)
• Rep. Stanley Saylor (R-94)
• Rep. Garth Everett (R-84)
• Rep. Mike Carroll (D-118)
• Rep. Anthony DeLuca (D-32)
• Rep. John Lawrence (R-13)
• Rep. David Hickernell (R-98)
• Rep. Bernard O'Neill (R-29)
• Rep. Russell Diamond (R-102)
• Rep. William Kortz, II (D-38)
• Rep. Jim Cox (R-129)
• Rep. Thomas Quigley (R-146)
• Rep. Mark Rozzi (D-126)
• Rep. Marcia Hahn (R-138)
• Rep. Rosemary Brown (R-189)
• Rep. David Zimmerman (R-99)
• Rep. Susan Helm (R-104)
• Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-122)

Former officials

The following former officials sponsored the amendment in the state Legislature in 2016:

• Rep. Glen Grell (R-87)
• Rep. Dan Truitt (R-156)
• Rep. Julie Harhart (R-183)
• Rep. Jaret Gibbons (D-10)

Arguments

• Rep. David Maloney (R-130), the measure's primary sponsor in the state Legislature, said, "While this is the current mechanism to provide residential property tax relief, it is inadequate as it caps the amount of relief that can be provided. ... There is a need to fund the core functions of government – roads, schools, public safety – but I do not believe that a tax that would take a person’s home after working their whole life to pay for it is a ‘core’ function of government – in fact, it is immoral."
• Sen. Mario Scavello (R-40) stated, "We can all agree that any tax that would take a person’s home after working their entire life to pay for it is wrong and immoral. No individual should have to choose between paying for prescription medications, taking care of their health and paying for property taxes. People should be able to own their property and enactment of this constitutional amendment will protect and safeguard that constitutional right."

Opposition

Sen. Michele Brooks (R-50) and Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R-21) voted against the amendment in the state Legislature in 2016 and 2017.

Opponents

• West Chester Area School Board

Arguments

Sen. Michele Brooks (R-50), one of the two legislators who voted against referring the amendment to the ballot, said:

“

I know people are struggling with their property tax bills, and this is an important conversation to have, but all of the facts must be part of the conversation. People need to hear the whole story. This is a major policy shift. The only piece people are talking about seems to be that it may remove property taxes. But, this homestead exemption legislation is the first piece to raising the personal income tax, increasing the sales tax, or taxing things that are not currently taxed. It's a bit disingenuous to omit that part of the conversation. We need to call it what it is. People are tired of being misled. They need all of the information.

”

Chris McCune, president of the West Chester Area School Board, stated:

“

I firmly believe that our school funding formula and system of taxation needs significant reform. However, I am strongly convinced that this kind of backdoor legislative change is not the kind of positive, sustainable solution that we need. It deserves a much longer, more thorough review, with more equitable and sustainable solutions.

”

Campaign finance

Total campaign contributions:
Support:	$0.00
Opposition:	$0.00

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Pennsylvania ballot measures

No ballot question committees registered to support or oppose the amendment.

Media editorials

See also: 2017 ballot measure media endorsements

Ballotpedia identified the following media editorial boards as taking positions on the constitutional amendment. If you are aware of a media editorial board position that is not listed below, please email the editorial link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Support

Ballotpedia had not identified media editorial boards in support of the amendment.

Opposition

• Philadelphia Daily News said: "Naturally, most will have an irresistible urge to press the “Yes” button. After all, who likes to pay property taxes? But stop for a minute and consider the reality behind this simply worded question. ... Property taxes are used to fund public schools. They cannot be abolished without replacing that money. There are bills in the state legislature today to increase the state income tax from 3.07 percent to 4.95 percent to partly fill in the hole. Another would increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent (and from 8 percent to 9 percent in Philadelphia) and remove exemptions on such items as food, nonprescription drugs, and some clothing. Depending on your income and current property taxes, you could end up paying more."

Background

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Resolution No. 1

In 1995, Senate Bill 284 was introduced into the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The bill was designed to refer a constitutional amendment to voters that would allow local taxing authorities―counties, municipalities, and school districts―to exempt up to 50 percent of the median value of all homesteads within their jurisdiction from taxes. The amendment created Section 2(b)(vi) of Article VIII of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which the 2017 amendment sought to amend.

On June 27, 1996, the Pennsylvania Senate voted 49-0 to pass SB 284. On June 28, 1996, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 198-0 to pass the bill. As the Pennsylvania Constitution requires that amendments be passed during two legislative sessions, the bill was referred to the next regular session in 1997.

The amendment was reintroduced as Senate Bill 65 in 1997. The state Senate approved the bill 47-0 on February 10, 1997. The state House of Representatives passed the bill 201-0 on March 12, 1997. The amendment was enrolled as Resolution No. 1 and was referred to the ballot for the election on November 4, 1997. State Sen. Michael O'Pake described the amendment as "the linchpin of any meaningful and fair local tax reform in Pennsylvania."

Voters approved Resolution No. 1, with 61.45 percent voting yes and 38.55 percent voting no.

Act 50

As Resolution No. 1 was a constitutional amendment, the Pennsylvania General Assembly needed to pass a statute, known as implementing legislation, to provide local taxing authorities with a law allowing them to begin using the homestead exemption. Act 50 contained a provision to implement Resolution No. 1. New implementing legislation would be needed for the 2017 amendment.

In 1998, the state General Assembly passed and Gov. Tom Ridge (R) signed an omnibus tax policy bill, which was enacted as Act 50. Pennsylvania was a Republican trifecta in 1998, with the GOP controlling the governor’s office, state House, and state Senate.

Like Resolution No. 1, Act 50 allowed counties, municipalities, and school districts to provide homestead exemptions up to 50 percent of the median assessed value of homesteads within their jurisdictions. The median assessed value of homesteads is the middle value in a distribution of homestead values in order from lowest to highest value. For example, the median assessed value of three homesteads with the values $100,000, $200,000, and $900,000 would be $200,000 because that number is in the middle. Act 50 stated that homestead exemptions needed to be a fixed-dollar amount.

Also like Resolution No. 1, Act 50 prohibited local taxing authorities from increasing their property tax rates to make up for lost revenue from an exemption. The bill provided a method for school districts, but not counties or municipalities, to make up the lost revenue from enacting a homestead exemption. Districts were allowed to tax earned income at 1.5 percent or less in exchange for reducing property taxes if voters approved in a referendum.

2017 implementing legislation

This 2017 amendment requires implementing legislation. As of October 2017, the state General Assembly had not passed implementing legislation for the amendment.

Stuart Knade, a senior legal director for the Pennsylvania School Board Association, commented on the idea of implementing legislation, saying, “This amendment would make something much more dramatic possible, where in theory you can eliminate property taxes. That’s a heck of a lot of revenue to replace. I have no idea where you could come up with enough from a different source to replace all that property tax revenue.”

Referred amendments on the ballot

From 1996 through 2016, the Pennsylvania General Assembly referred 15 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved all 15 of the referred amendments. Most of the amendments (8 of 15) were referred to the ballot during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on the ballot during an odd-numbered election year was between zero and one. Two amendments appeared on the ballot in 2016. Before 2016, the last time an amendment appeared on the ballot was in 2008. As of 2017, the last time an amendment appeared on an odd-year ballot was in 2003.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1996-2016
Years	Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Annual average	Annual median	Annual minimum	Annual maximum
Even years	8	8	100.00%	0	0.00%	0.73	1.00	0	2
Odd years	7	7	100.00%	0	0.00%	0.70	0.00	0	3
All years	15	15	100.00%	0	0.00%	0.71	0.00	0	3

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Pennsylvania Constitution

In Pennsylvania, an amendment can go on the ballot after just one legislative session, but only if the Pennsylvania State Legislature declares an emergency. In the absence of an emergency, the amendment must be considered in two separate legislative sessions. An amendment must receive a simple majority vote in each legislative chamber.

2015-2016 legislative session

The amendment was introduced during the 2015-2016 legislative session as House Bill 147 (HB 147). On February 24, 2015, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed HB 147 in a vote of 200 to 0 with two members not voting and one seat vacant. The Pennsylvania Senate approved HB 147 on June 13, 2016. The bill was passed 45-2 with three members not voting. The first-session approval was filed with the secretary of state on June 16, 2016.

Vote in the Pennsylvania Senate June 13, 2016
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber in two sessions; or two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber on an emergency amendment in one session
Number of yes votes required: 26  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	45	2	3
Total percent	90.00%	4.00%	6.00%
Democrat	17	0	2
Republican	28	2	1

Vote in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives February 4, 2015
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber in two sessions; or two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber on an emergency amendment in one session
Number of yes votes required: 102  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	200	0	2
Total percent	98.52%	0.00%	0.98%
Democrat	83	0	0
Republican	117	0	2

2017-2018 legislative session

During the 2017-2018 legislative session, the amendment was reintroduced as House Bill 1285 (HB 1285). On June 12, 2017, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed the bill 190 to 0 with 13 members not voting. On July 11, 2017, the Pennsylvania Senate voted 46 to 2, with two senators not voting, to pass the amendment. As the amendment was approved during the previous legislative session, the votes of approval in June and July 2017 referred the amendment to the ballot for the election on November 7, 2017.

Vote in the Pennsylvania Senate July 11, 2017
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber in two sessions; or two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber on an emergency amendment in one session
Number of yes votes required: 26  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	46	2	2
Total percent	92.00%	4.00%	4.00%
Democrat	15	0	1
Republican	31	2	1

Vote in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives June 12, 2017
Requirement: Simple majority vote of all members in each chamber in two sessions; or two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber on an emergency amendment in one session
Number of yes votes required: 102  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	190	0	13
Total percent	93.59%	0.00%	6.41%
Democrat	78	0	4
Republican	112	0	9

State profile

Demographic data for Pennsylvania
	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Total population:	12,791,904	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	44,743	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	81.6%	73.6%
Black/African American:	11%	12.6%
Asian:	3.1%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.4%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.2%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	28.6%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,599	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	15.9%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Pennsylvania. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania voted for the Democratic candidate in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, three are located in Pennsylvania, accounting for 1.46 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Pennsylvania had one Retained Pivot County and two Boomerang Pivot Counties, accounting for 0.55 and 8.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

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• More...

Related measures

See also: Taxes on the ballot

Taxes measures on the ballot in 2017
State	Measures
Washington	Washington Advisory Vote 18: State Property Tax for Schools Bill d
Texas	Texas Proposition 6: Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouses of First Responders Killed in Line of Duty Amendment a
Louisiana	Louisiana Amendment 1: No Property Tax on Properties Under Construction Measure a
Texas	Texas Proposition 1: Property Tax Exemption for Partially Disabled Veteran with Donated House Amendment a
Washington	Washington Advisory Vote 17: Sales and Use Tax and Business and Occupation Tax Bill d
Louisiana	Louisiana Amendment 2: Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouses of Emergency Responders Killed Performing Duties Measure a
Washington	Washington Advisory Vote 16: Commercial Fishing Licenses, Fees, and Taxes Bill d

See also

Suggest a link

• Pennsylvania 2017 ballot measures
• 2017 ballot measures
• Pennsylvania Legislature
• Taxes on the ballot

External links

• House Bill 147 (2016)
• House Bill 1285 (2017)
• Proposed Amendment to the Constitution of Pennsylvania

Recent news

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Pennsylvania Allow Local Taxing Authorities to Exempt Full Value of Homestead Amendment (2017) - Google News