A new proposal in Harrisburg would eliminate school, county and municipal property taxes for Pennsylvania homeowners 75 and older who have owned and lived in the same home for at least a decade, reviving a long-running debate over how the state should ease the property-tax burden on its oldest residents.
The measure, dubbed the Sam Worley Elderly Tax Relief Act, was circulated as a co-sponsorship memo on April 21, 2026, by state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a Franklin County Republican. It has not yet been formally introduced as a bill, but the memo lays out who would qualify and how the exemption would work.
Who Would Qualify
To be eligible, a homeowner would need to be 75 or older, have lived in Pennsylvania for at least 10 consecutive years, and have owned and occupied the same primary residence for at least 10 consecutive years. Those who meet the bar would receive a full exemption from school, county and municipal property taxes on that home.
The proposal also protects surviving spouses: a widow or widower could continue receiving the exemption regardless of their own age, as long as they keep the property as their primary residence. To guard against abuse, the plan calls for annual eligibility verification and penalties for fraudulent claims.
The Veteran Behind the Name
The act is named for Sam Worley, a World War II veteran who, according to Mastriano’s office, continued paying property taxes into his 100th year of life. “Many of our seniors have spent their entire lives working hard, raising families and paying property taxes year after year,” Mastriano said in announcing the proposal.
Supporters and Skeptics
Backers argue the exemption would help longtime residents on fixed incomes stay in homes they have already paid for many times over through decades of taxes, rather than being forced to sell as bills climb.
Critics counter that the proposal is too narrow. Because it applies only to homeowners 75 and older who have stayed put for a decade, relatively few people would actually qualify, they argue, and a starting age of 65 would deliver meaningful relief to far more seniors. The debate echoes Pennsylvania’s decades-long, unresolved fight over whether to overhaul or eliminate property taxes altogether.
School property taxes remain among the largest annual costs for Pennsylvania homeowners, and the hardest for lawmakers to replace.
Part of a Bigger Push
The elderly-relief memo is not Mastriano’s only move on property taxes. He and fellow Republican Sen. Chris Gebhard have also put forward a proposed constitutional amendment that would go much further, barring Pennsylvania school districts from levying property taxes altogether beginning July 1, 2029, and requiring the legislature to replace that revenue through a mix of sales, state income and local earned-income taxes.
“It is ludicrous that Pennsylvanians are being forced to pay rent, disguised as property taxes, on land they own,” Mastriano said of that effort. Because it is a constitutional amendment, it would need to pass in two consecutive legislative sessions and then win approval from voters in a statewide referendum before taking effect. Critics of a full repeal warn that shifting schools onto state-collected revenue could make funding more volatile during downturns and weaken local control over education.
Why It Matters in the Lehigh Valley
Property taxes, and school taxes in particular, rank among the largest annual expenses for Lehigh Valley homeowners, and the question of how to keep older residents in their homes is a familiar one across Lehigh and Northampton counties. For Valley seniors living on fixed incomes, even a narrowly drawn exemption could mean the difference between staying and selling, which is why proposals like this tend to draw close attention locally even when their statewide odds are uncertain.
The Proposal at a Glance
State Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) circulated the Sam Worley Elderly Tax Relief Act as a co-sponsorship memo on April 21, 2026; it has not yet been formally introduced.
It would exempt qualifying homeowners from all school, county and municipal property taxes on their primary residence.
Eligibility: age 75 or older, 10+ consecutive years of Pennsylvania residency, and 10+ consecutive years owning and occupying the same home.
Surviving spouses could keep the exemption regardless of age if they remain in the home.
The plan includes annual eligibility checks and penalties for fraud.
Critics say a starting age of 65 would help far more seniors; supporters say it protects those most at risk of being taxed out of their homes.
Separately, Mastriano and Sen. Chris Gebhard have proposed a constitutional amendment to eliminate all school property taxes statewide beginning July 1, 2029.
