HARRISBURG — State Rep. Brian Ellis, R-11th and several other legislators pressed for the state to use federal stimulus funds to help school districts pay pension funds, a move that could stave off impending property tax increases statewide in 2012.

On Monday, they introduced a package of legislation that would allocate those federal funds to school districts to bridge a funding gap created by a shortfall of pension funds for retiring teachers.

Ellis, who is on a 13-member statewide committee that will oversee how federal stimulus money is spent in Pennsylvania, will send a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan backing the measures.

State Rep. Ron Miller, R-93rd, said taxpayers could pay a hefty price in 2012 if the Legislature fails to act now. He said low employee-contribution rates to pension plans since 2001 have created a financial shortfall, a burden that would be placed on taxpayers if a solution isn't found soon.

The legislators warned of the 2012 deadline because a large teacher retirement surge is expected in the next decade, a scenario that would force school districts to contribute more to their teachers' pension funds.

Also factored into the shortfall was the 28 percent drop in the value of investments for the public school employees retirement fund during the second half of 2008.

That's why Ellis and his colleagues propose to use more than $435 million in stimulus money in hopes to stave off a hike in property taxes in 2012.

Ellis is on a panel that is to oversee spending of nearly $10 billion in stimulus money in Pennsylvania by September 2011.

Ellis said it's imperative to act now even if the problem is several years down the road.

"It's not a surprise to us that we have a pension crisis," Ellis said. "We know in government they like to fix things that are broken, not things that are breaking. And we lack the leadership in this building (the capitol) right now from the governor's office and from House (of Representatives) Democrats to move forward on a looming crisis."

Ellis likened the proposals to a one-time, quick fix that solves the current problem now but leaves open the possibility of pension shortfalls in the future. That's why the legislators drafted proposals that would raise school districts' minimum contribution rate to more than 7 percent of its budget.

The current minimum contribution rate for school districts is 4.76 percent of its overall budget. A second proposal brought by the legislators would remove a cap that sets the maximum contribution by employers to pension plans at 8 percent.

Kimberley Geyer, president of the Mars School Board, said Gov. Ed Rendell recently advocated that schools use stimulus money to increase programs and services, not pay down future debt.

Geyer called that philosophy fiscally irresponsible and suggested the school districts use the funds they have now to help ease the burden coming in a few years.

"This one-time, viable reason to utilize this federal money will provide all of Pennsylvania a much-needed safety net whether some realize it or not," Geyer said.

"Not addressed, this situation has the potential to have dire ramifications for the entire Pennsylvania economy as a whole as well as greatly impact our entire Pennsylvania education system."

State Rep. Paul Clymer, R-145th, who is on the state's House Education Committee, agreed now is the time to act to prevent a future crisis that could burden taxpayers and school districts.

"We need to not sit back and wait until there's a crisis; we need to move forward," Clymer said. "We know that the dark clouds are on the horizon, so before the hurricane breaks we need to be prepared and do the things that are so necessary to help our school districts and our taxpayers."

State Rep. Doug Reichley, R-134th, contrasted the situation to a taxpayer receiving a tax refund and promptly spending it in a casino. He said this is just another form of state government receiving extra money that it will use to pay down debt instead of wasting on other programs.

"This is a necessary step to restore some fiscal stability and sanity to the process of making pension contributions," he said. "This is the state government ... putting money toward responsible down payments toward debt you know is ahead of you."