Cash-strapped counties across the state are examining alternatives to the property tax for funding of county operations. The topic is on the agenda for next week's County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania meeting, which Butler County Commissioner Scott Lowe will attend.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Carole Rubley, R-Chester, is resurrecting a measure she has introduced in each of the past two legislative sessions that would allow counties to shift partly to a countywide sales-and-use tax or a personal-income or earned-income tax.

Rubley says her bill is likely to gain more attention during this legislative session because lawmakers no longer are occupied with passing legislation to enable school districts to reduce property taxes using a share of gambling revenue.

"The emphasis has been on dealing with the school property tax, because that is such a large tax, and it has a more dramatic impact on the voters," Rubley said. "Now is the time that we can focus on this county tax."

Trouble is, lawmakers might not have resolved the school property tax issue. School property tax reform might go belly up on May 30 if school boards, fearful of tax-increase voter referendums, choose not to opt into the law's provisions. May 30 is the deadline for school systems to make their decision on whether or not to participate.

Property owners likewise haven't gotten excited about the new law - Act 72. The anticipated property tax reductions aren't expected to be as significant as state politicians initially estimated when the slot-machine gambling initiative was getting under way.

It is premature for Rubley to imply that tax reform on the county level is more promising now because of what has been passed on school districts' behalf. However, the counties have the right to push whatever tax-reform plan they deem best, regardless of the fate of Act 72.

Next week's statewide commissioners meeting, set for Sunday through Wednesday, will be an excellent forum for formulating a tax strategy, or at least to narrow the options that the statewide group would be willing to support.

Lowe said Wednesday that some tax changes need to be made and that he is in favor of finding a reasonable alternative to the current tax system. However, he said, he has not thrown his support behind any alternative because the state group hasn't taken a position on what alternatives might be most workable.

Despite Butler County's enviable financial situation over the past decade, when the county recorded multimillion-dollar end-of-year fund balances, the county is embarking on major, expensive projects, such as the building of a new prison, that will test the commissioners' ability to control costs and avoid burgeoning tax hikes.

Thus, next week's meeting is important to Butler County, as well as to those counties currently battling to keep out of red ink.

Going into that meeting, the state's commissioners must realize that some of the same issues that have dogged school property tax reform will also be on the table for them to resolve, including a provision in the Rubley bill that would require future property tax increases to be capped at the rate of inflation, except in certain circumstances such as an emergency or disaster declared by the governor, a rapid rise in pension costs or a decline in revenues.

Some of those exceptions could prove troubling to taxpayers, because they could be regarded as opening a window to significantly higher total tax responsibility.

Rubley's measure plus whatever proposals emerge from next week's meeting will be a good starting point for the commissioners group as well as the 67 individual counties' leaders working on the issue by themselves. But judging from the latest school tax-reform attempt, commissioners should acknowledge that this task won't be easy.

Unfortunately, it could even be impossible.