Homeowners on average in Butler County, depending on which school district they live in, could save from 15 percent to 100 percent on their school property taxes under a plan Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed, but state legislators have concerns about it.

If it were enacted, Wolf’s plan would eliminate property taxes for schools in four area school districts: Allegheny-Clarion Valley, Karns City, Moniteau and Union.

They would have property taxes eliminated because school districts with higher state subsidies would receive more property tax relief in Wolf’s plans.

State Rep. Brian Ellis, R-11th, said it’s admirable that Wolf has tried to address the long-standing issue of property taxes, but he doesn’t see the plan as a viable solution.

“I think it’s very important that we be concerned with the escalating property taxes, but unfortunately, Gov. Wolf’s plan expresses the opinion that most of the taxpayers will benefit. This is absolutely just not true,” Ellis said.

“He’s proposing about $8 billion worth of new taxes, but only putting $3.6 billion of that toward property tax relief. He wants to call it a tax shift, which could benefit our area very well, but this isn’t that.”

Instead, taxes would be taken off property and new taxes would be applied to sales and income taxes. The property tax reform plan is a part of the governor’s budget, which needs to be passed by the Legislature before becoming law.

The governor established a website, schoolsthatteach.com, that shows side-by-side comparisons of estimated funding for the 2014-15 school year and proposed funding in the 2015-16 school year for every district in the state. It also shows proposed property tax relief percentages and school funding increases.

For instance, the Butler School District would receive a $1.4 million funding increase in the governor’s proposed budget plan and homeowners could save an average of 40 percent on property taxes.

In contrast, the Mars School District would receive a $290,000 funding increase and homeowners would have an average 15 percent savings on their proposed property taxes.

“It would be a shifting of the way our district is funded, away from property tax collection,” said Eric Ritzert, Karns City superintendent, although he thinks changes will occur before such a proposal is passed.

“It’ll take a concerted effort between the governor and the Legislature with how the increased funding could be obtained and equally distributed through school districts,” he said.

State Rep. Jaret Gibbons, D-10th, said it would be ideal to eliminate property taxes completely.

“His plan does provide property tax relief up to the full amount allowed by the homestead exclusion. I would like to work on something that goes further to do a complete elimination of the school property tax and look at ways to replace that revenue through other state funds,” Gibbons said.

“I’m glad to see that Gov. Wolf has made this one of his priorities, and I’m hopeful we can work together in a bipartisan way with the Legislature and with the governor to accomplish something. I would hope to go even further than what the governor is proposing.”

He added that using property taxes as a source has been problematic for many reasons.

“It does not take into account income and has a very disproportionate effect on certain groups, particularly senior citizens on fixed incomes,” Gibbons said.

However, Ellis said the governor’s plan wouldn’t do anything to even things out.

“If his only plan is to do it in an unfair and inequitable way, I don’t see any way that this could possibly pass,” Ellis said.