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By KEVIN HOFFMAN [email protected]
Wednesday, January 26, 2000     Page: 5A

HARRISBURG – A bill proposed last week by Rep. Todd Eachus that would give
Hazleton Area School District property owners a second chance to apply for the
Homestead Exclusion is scheduled to go before the local government committee
today.
   
Eachus, D-Butler Township, said he proposed the bill because as the law
stands now, the deadline for applying for the exclusion expired more than
seven months before voters validated the application through a referendum.
    “Many of us saw this glaring hole as a gap in the legislation,” Eachus
said. “I believe when we close this loophole it makes it equitable for
everyone.”
   
Hazleton Area is one of only three school districts in the state trying out
the tax change, which shifts some of the tax burden from property owners to
wage earners.
   
About one-seventh of eligible homeowners in the Hazleton Area School
District applied for the Homestead Exclusion, according to the district’s most
recent numbers.
   
Eachus said he’s hopeful the bill will pass because it’s a bipartisan
issue. He is a Democrat and representatives from the other two school
districts – Central Dauphin and Williamsport Area – are Republicans. “The
citizens of these other school districts are crying just as loud for equity as
the Hazleton Area School District.”
   
Eachus on Tuesday vowed he also would try to make the change by amending
the tax code bill. That method might be quicker than waiting for the bill
proposed last week to wind its way through the legislature.
Call Hoffman at 829-7139.