HERSHEY — The six candidates for Pennsylvania governor clashed Wednesday over the future of the property tax at a gathering of local officials from across the state.

At a forum before 1,000 people attending a conference of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, the candidates championed proposals from an expanded sales tax to the legalization of small games of chance.

GOP candidate Sam Rohrer, a conservative state legislator from Berks County, advocated replacing the billions of dollars a year generated by school property taxes with state revenue from an expanded sales tax, slot-machine gambling money already earmarked for property-tax relief and royalties from lucrative natural-gas drilling on the Marcellus Shale formation.

"Folks, this state would become an economic powerhouse if we can do this, and we can," Rohrer said to a burst of applause.

Republican front-runner Tom Corbett said he is undecided about the status of the property tax and that policy makers must carefully consider the alternatives before making major changes.

"We have to bring in a large amount of revenue," he said. "The question is, where are we going to tax to get that revenue, and whose ox is being gored?"

Among the Democratic candidates, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel urged shifting the property-tax burden onto income taxes.

State Auditor General Jack Wagner advocated shifting the tax burden onto sales or income taxes.

"Sam Rohrer has some great ideas," Wagner said, "and it's really time to listen to him."

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato promised changes in the property assessment system to protect homeowners from "backdoor" tax increases resulting from reassessments.

State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams touted his plan to augment the property-tax relief provided by the slots money with revenue from the legalization of keno and small games of chance.