Committee delays bill to create aid fund for municipalities with high shares of tax‑exempt property

The House Local Government Committee postponed further action on House Bill 985, legislation to create a municipal assistance fund that would allocate money to jurisdictions with high proportions of tax‑exempt property. Committee leaders said they will continue drafting and reconvene work on the bill at the committee’s next meeting.

Committee members and invited data partners reviewed the spreadsheet driving the bill’s formula. The committee called forward Vinny Cannizzaro, executive director of the Pennsylvania Economy League, who explained that the underlying calculations use county data and a common level ratio to estimate market values for taxed and tax‑exempt properties statewide. Cannizzaro said the work aimed to provide a consistent basis for the distribution formula.

Members raised concerns about perceived inequities in the draft formula. Representative Probst said boroughs with very high shares of tax‑exempt value can appear disadvantaged by the per‑capita cap in the draft: "I'm very excited about this bill ... I just wish it would be looked at a little more intensely on the percentage of the tax exempt properties," he said. Other members asked staff to re‑run numbers under alternate formulations, including adjustments to the per‑capita cap and how pilot agreements (payments‑in‑lieu‑of‑taxes) would be treated.

Chairman Freeman indicated the committee would postpone consideration of House Bill 985 until the next meeting (scheduled in committee for June 9) to allow additional data review and possible amendatory language.