PRINTER'S NO. 485
No. 43 Session of 1975
INTRODUCED BY MESSRS. VALICENTI, ABRAHAM, MISCEVICH AND MRS.
GILLETTE, FEBRUARY 11, 1975
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, FEBRUARY 11, 1975
In the House of Representatives, February 11, 1975
1 WHEREAS, The counties, cities, boroughs and townships of this
2 Commonwealth are facing a financial crisis due to factors over
3 which they have little or no control, such as compulsory
4 arbitration pay increases for police and firemen, increased
5 pension and fringe benefits, general inflation, the cost of
6 borrowing, and cutbacks in Federal aid; and
7 WHEREAS, Federal law relating to minimum wages and overtime,
8 and State-mandated programs such as waste management and sewage
9 facilities impose even greater costs on political subdivisions
10 at a time when inflation is having more of an impact on them
11 than on the Commonwealth; and
12 WHEREAS, Counties, cities, boroughs and townships are faced
13 with the alternatives of either cutting back on essential local
14 services or raising the property tax on homeowners and
15 businesses and regressive taxes on persons who are already tax
16 burdened; and
17 WHEREAS, Federal revenue sharing has already demonstrated the
1 importance of providing financial assistance to local
2 governments as a means of easing the local tax burden and giving
3 local officials generally unrestricted discretion for the
4 expenditure of such funds on locally determined priorities; and
5 WHEREAS, Legislation has been introduced in the General
6 Assembly which proposes to allocate to local units a portion of
7 State personal income tax revenues which will ease the financial
8 crunch on counties, boroughs, cities and townships and help to
9 reduce the need for further property and personal tax increases;
10 therefore be it
11 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
12 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania give the highest priority to the
13 enactment of legislation establishing State revenue sharing and
14 its implementation by allocations to alleviate the plight of
15 political subdivisions now overburdened with local taxes.
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