A news article today points out that the Pittsburgh Public School Board set the amount of the district’s homestead/farmstead exemption at $29,447, not much changed from where it was last year. The article also points out that the money from legalized slots—which are taxed in order to pay for said homestead/farmstead relief in districts across the state—is roughly the same this year $15,579,488 as it was last year ($15,579,449).

It might come as a surprise to readers (or perhaps not) that the amount of gaming money for the district was $15,588,532—roughly $9,000 more—in 2008-09. Based on data from the Department of Education, the amount of state funded local tax relief in this fiscal year is $616.2 million. Six fiscal years ago the amount was $612.8 million. So the amount that districts receive (via formula) and the number of homesteads/farmsteads applying determines the amount of relief per homestead/farmstead. In Pittsburgh, with some slight fluctuation over the years, the relief per homestead/farmstead has ranged from $267 to $281. That’s consistent with what we found when examining the impact of gaming money in 41 of the County’s school districts in a 2014 report.