Chester-Upland wins big in slots' tax reductions

HARRISBURG, Pa. - More than 2.5 million Pennsylvania homeowners will share nearly $612 million in property and wage tax reductions thanks to slot-machine gambling.

The state Department of Education on Thursday released estimates of next year's reductions for most of the 500 local school districts under the homestead and farmstead exclusion program.

The biggest winners include Chester-Upland School District, where reductions of $641 per homeowner are anticipated. Reductions of more than $500 are expected in the Allentown and York city school districts.

Under the program, the assessed value of the participating homesteads in each district is reduced by an equal amount, cutting the tax.

Philadelphia homeowners receive city wage tax reductions instead. Revenue from slots gambling pays for it all.

Homeowners have until March 1 to qualify for reductions in the following year.