HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's public schools could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year by such things as pooling tax collection systems and employee health insurance plans as well as building energy-efficient buildings, according to a report ordered by the Legislature.

The recommendations were among several cost-cutting strategies suggested Friday by a special task force established under a 2006 law aimed at reducing homeowners' property taxes.

"Finding more efficient ways to run our schools not only helps school districts be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars, but it also enables all of us to better target funds to the classroom," task force chairman Michael Nadol said in a statement. Nadol is a managing director at Public Financial Management, a financial adviser to government agencies and school districts.

The greatest savings — $127 million — could be made by consolidating a fragmented system of earned income tax collectors used by school districts and municipalities, the panel said.

School districts and local governments currently employ 560 different tax collectors, most of them elected, that charge different rates for their services, have different rules, and use different forms and codes, the report said. As a remedy, the task force called for legislation that would whittle that down to a system of 66 countywide tax collectors.

The task force also recommended a statewide health insurance plan, an idea endorsed earlier by Gov. Ed Rendell as a way to stem property tax increases.

The report also said that increasing technical assistance offered by the state Education Department to encourage "green building" would save school districts $13 million a year in reduced energy costs.