As of May 30, State College residents may be eligible for property tax breaks and education funding through slot machine revenue.

Pennsylvania Secretary of Banking Bill Schenck called a press conference yesterday afternoon to address Centre County's concerns regarding Act 72, or the Homeowner Tax Relief Act.

The act would allow homeowners to receive an average of $266 per household in property tax relief if the local school district board agrees to its provisions.

Schenck joined State College Mayor Bill Welch and Centre County Commissioner Scott Conklin at the conference to encourage Centre County school boards to participate in act before the May 30 deadline.

The act is estimated to raise about $1 billion for the state, which will come from 14 proposed slot machine venues throughout the state. A small wage tax increase would also fund the act, Schenck said.

"You're basically shifting the burden from property owners who may have fixed incomes to wage earners," Schenck said.

The act would not affect students who do not own property in State College.

State College Area School District board member Lou Ann Evans said that although school districts have had 10 months to debate the act's provisions, the state has failed to answer a lot of their concerns.

"How will the money be distributed," Evans said. "Is this even constitutional?"

State College Borough Council President Tom Daubert said he was unsure if tax relief would outweigh the additional wage tax.

"State College is mostly a community of renters," Daubert said. "It's just a small amount of money at this stage."

But Schenck said he is confident that the casinos will have a positive economic effect on the area.

"We don't want to see a situation like Atlantic City in Pennsylvania, we want to create jobs," Schenck said.

He added that casino revenue is reliable and felt that slot machines were a good opportunity to raise money. Gamblers from Pennsylvania travel to other states to spend money gambling and for lodging when they could be spending it in Pennsylvania instead, he said.

Along with the wage tax increase, the act changes how school boards raise property taxes. Currently, the school board can raise property taxes without asking residents of the area, except during local elections. However, under the act, citizens have the opportunity to vote on all increases, Schenck said.

So far 80 percent of Pennsylvania families have applied for tax relief, Schenck said.

Act 72 also would not allow schools to back out of the act if slot machine revenue doesn't materialize, Evans said.

Borough Council member Cathy Dauler said she feels that the school board has already made their decision to reject the act.

"They think of [Act 72] as anti-school board and not pro-tax payer," Dauler said.

Deciding between property tax relief and educational funding issues is not an either or issue, Evans said.

"[School board members] are elected to provide an affordable education for the community," Evans said.