Pennsylvania Takes Second Shot at Cutting Property Taxes

Pennsylvania has enacted a law that trims property taxes by imposing new limits on school districts’ budgeting freedom, and shifts more of the burden of education funding from local to state shoulders.

The law, signed by Gov. Edward G. Rendell on June 27, represents the Democratic leader’s second attempt to reduce the property taxes on which schools in the Keystone State depend so heavily. Reducing those local taxes while also reducing the schools’ reliance on them has been a cornerstone of Mr. Rendell’s tenure and figures heavily in his current bid for re-election.

The governor pushed successfully for a 2004 law, Act 72, that allowed districts to use future slot-machine proceeds to reduce property taxes in exchange for limits on how much they could increase their budgets. An increase in the earned-income tax would have...