today’s news and information gleanings from here and there! 

Quote for today … “One surprising result of our analysis is the fact that less than 5% of the perpetrators of these major frauds had prior criminal fraud backgrounds.” – Extracted from an article, “Recent Trends in Employee Theft.”

• York’s “Teens’ Fourth Friday” is cool – York Dispatch

• Should have been done a long time ago: State representative “Christiana is proposing legislation that would create a SchoolWATCH website that would allow the public to sift through district and building-level data detailing revenues and expenditures.” – Harrisburg Patriot-News

• State Representative Ryan Aument included the following in his weekly newsletter:

Property Tax Reform Advances … Members of the House Finance Committee voted this week to send four school property tax reform bills to the full House for consideration. All four bills aim to reduce the burden of school property taxes on homeowners across Pennsylvania.

•	House Bill 1685 would allow school districts to increase their Earned Income Tax (EIT) rate in order to provide dollar-for-dollar property tax relief. The bill would allow school districts to do this without seeking voter approval through a referendum, but they could only use those dollars to reduce or eliminate property taxes.
•	House Bill 1189 would empower school districts to reduce or eliminate school district property taxes by replacing the revenues through the enactment of an Earned Income and Net Profits Tax, Mercantile Tax or Business Tax, or a combination of any of these taxes.
•	House Bill 1677 would ensure the definition of a homestead is in line with language in the Pennsylvania Constitution.
•	House Bill 125 would amend the state constitution to allow for the complete elimination of school district property taxes through existing homestead exclusions. Current property tax relief is delivered to homeowners through homestead exclusions. However, the state constitution limits the amount of relief that can be delivered to no more than one-half of the median assessed value of all homestead property within the school district.

• What happened to John Kerry? An opinion column stating, “the corrupting influence of the combination of money and power with its necessary consequence of surrendering what Kerry himself calls one’s ‘moral compass.’”

• “State’s new school performance website delayed” – Bucks County Courier Times