It’s been two decades since Pennsylvania legalized casinos with the promise of “property tax relief” for homeowners. Has that law paid off, and are residents cashing in?
Slot machines have been operating in Pennsylvania casinos since 2006 and online since 2019.
Every commonwealth homeowner has cashed in whether they’ve gambled or not, as 34% of all slot revenue goes to what the original law called “property tax relief,” now approximately $1 billion. Experts say too few people even know what they’re getting.
“I think people heard what they wanted to hear, and I think the nomenclature of ‘property tax relief’ rather than what it really is, property tax reduction, that is what they heard,” said Doug Harbach, spokesman of the Pennslyvania Gaming Control Board. “They thought this gambling was going to get rid of my school property taxes. That was never going to be the case.”
