An economist from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center believes the budgets proposed by Governor Tom Wolf and the one passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives more than two months ago share enough similarities to allow for bipartisan compromise on property tax relief.

In a recent press conference, Steven Herzenberg, executive director of Keystone Research Center, said he wrote the report released July 28 to allow the public to have a fact-based discussion in comparing the two budget plans.

"There was a hope that the first bill would be a compromise bill. That didn't happen," Herzenberg said. "If we're going to manage to escape the partisan kabuki play, this is an area that might begin that process."

He said the similarities in the tax relief plans offer a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to achieve what has been [House Republicans'] top priority for a decade or more."

According to the report, both of the budget plans call for an increase in income taxes from 3.07 to 3.7 percent. The House plan, known as HB 504, allocates around $4.7 billion on property tax relief compared to the Wolf plan's $3.3 billion in total property tax relief.

The report found the Wolf plan targets more of its property tax relief on homesteads, where the House plan proposes the tax relief on all properties in the state, including businesses and commercial properties. Additionally, Herzenberg's report indicates middle and low-income homeowners receiving a larger share of the relief instead of distributing the relief across all statewide properties.

In roughly two-thirds of the 500 school districts in Pennsylvania, Herzenberg found homeowners get a bigger share of the relief under the Wolf plan. The area of the state receiving a bigger share of relief in HB 504 includes parts of southeast Pennsylvania in Bucks, Montgomery and Lehigh counties, the report shows.

The report considers Philadelphia separately because the Wolf plan allocates an additional $540 million in relief for that area through new wage tax relief plans and cigarette tax reductions; Philadelphia already receives $86 million in both budget plans for existing wage tax relief and relief paid through gaming revenues.

Herzenberg also said the compromise between the two plans should address the "shameful funding gaps" between school districts in the state, citing in the report the state spends 33 percent more per student in affluent school districts than in the poorest ones.

Herzenberg added the tax relief under either proposal should kick in by 2016-2017.

"You don't get the money this year because you have to collect it before you can give it out in tax relief," he said.

The report cites by 2017-2018, all districts in the state should receive a 14 to 23 percent reduction in residential property taxes and an additional 20 to 30 percent reduction in all property taxes.