HARRISBURG -- Year after year, you have called Talkback 16 about Pennsylvania's revenue that comes from casinos.
"The money that they're paying back into the state of Pennsylvania - where is it," asked a caller in 2007. "It was supposed to go to lowering property taxes - not!"
"Property taxes were supposed to go down," said one caller in 2012.
"We never got any of the gaming money that we were supposed to," said one caller on Tuesday.
So to clear up a couple of things, Newswatch 16 talked with Doug Harbach, the communications director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
"Homeowners normally will not see anything on their bill unless the tax collector puts an extra message on there," said Harbach, who points out that people are getting property tax relief, or a homestead credit as it's usually called, they just don't know it.
"I want people to understand that they likely are getting the reduction but through no fault of their own, many times they don't know they are getting it because it's not marked as their reduction for the homestead credit as funded by the casino money," said Harbach.
And if you take the time to actually read what was written into the bill, you'll notice pretty quickly that gaming revenue goes toward not only property tax relief, but also things like wage tax reduction and economic development like community projects. About two-thirds of the money that goes back to Pennsylvanians comes in the form of property tax relief.
And that piece per property owner can range in a reduction anywhere from around $50-300/year, depending on which school district you live in.
You probably already signed up for it when the property tax reduction program started about a decade ago. Newer homeowners should keep an eye on their records.
"Make sure you are signed up," Harbach added. "Because this is free money. You don't have to gamble, you never have to visit a casino, you just have to be a homeowner in Pennsylvania."
You can check to make sure you are signed up and benefiting from casino revenue by checking your school property tax bill and looking for a line called something like "homestead credit."
You can also contact your county assessor's office to make sure you are signed up.