A public office is a public trust. The Luksik/Clymer team holds the belief that public funds are not the property of the politicians or special interest groups. Rather, they are the property of the people.

Elected officials have a sacred duty to honor the people's trust in their management of public funds. That duty includes:

• collecting no more in taxes than is absolutely necessary, and
• getting the greatest value possible for every taxpayer dollar.

To accomplish this, the Luksik/Clymer team will:

Abolish the Inheritance Tax.

The inheritance tax is nothing less than double taxation, and Pennsylvania has one of the highest rates in the nation. Assets accumulated over a lifetime have generally already been taxed as income or property. It is time we respect the right of hard-working Pennsylvanians to pass on to their heirs the fruits of their labor. The scourge of taxation should end at death.

Refund Budget Surpluses.

Surpluses are created because the government taxes too heavily. The answer is not to find new ways to spend the excess money, but to return that excess money to the people in the form of lower taxes.

Eliminate Political Advertising Paid for with Tax Dollars.

Government agencies and officials that are already living off of your tax dollars should NOT use more of those tax dollars to promote themselves. Using public service announcements to gain name recognition for incumbents is not an appropriate use of taxpayers dollars. Some of the worst leeches on the public treasury are within the government itself. This must stop immediately.

Conduct Performance Audits of Government Agencies.

It is time for government agencies that spend vast amounts of your tax dollars to be held accountable for their actions. In addition to scrutinizing every government agency to determine whether its function is constitutionally authorized, we pledge to conduct performance audits to make sure that the funds allocated to a particular agency are indeed accomplishing the stated purpose of that agency.

Require a Referendum on Tax Increases.

Tax increases can be enacted at the whim of the legislature and the Governor and usually occur whenever it is "politically expedient" - usually in a non-election year. Major tax increases are often followed by relatively miniscule and selected tax cuts, or proposed tax limitations, designed to make the taxpayers think they are getting tax relief. We need an Amendment to the PA Constitution prohibiting tax increases without approval by the voters through a referendum.

Eliminate Real Estate Tax Sales.