Tax rate increases in the other 19 school districts that adopted a preliminary budget did not exceed the school district's index. Of the districts who sought exceptions: 221 used the pension costs exemption and 171 sought a Special Education costs exemption. Only 1 school district sought an exemption for Nonacademic School Construction Project, while 1 sought an exception for Electoral debt for school construction. For the budget in 2010-11, the Salisbury Township School Board applied for several exceptions to exceed the Act 1 index, including: rising teacher pension costs, increasing special education costs, and School Construction Grandfathered Debt. For the 2009-10 school budget, the Salisbury Township School Board did not apply for exceptions to exceed the Index. In the Spring of 2010, 135 Pennsylvania school boards asked to exceed their adjusted index. Approval was granted to 133 of them and 128 sought an exception for pension costs increases. In 2012, Salisbury Township School District approved 4,256 homestead properties receiving $119 in property tax relief. In 2009, Salisbury Township School District approved 4,246 homestead properties to receive $118 in property tax relief. The tax relief was subtracted from the total annual school property tax bill. Property owners apply for the relief through the county Treasurer's office. Farmers can qualify for a farmstead exemption on building used for agricultural purposes. The farm must be at least and must be the primary residence of the owner. Farmers can qualify for both the homestead exemption and the farmstead exemption. The amount of property tax relief each Pennsylvania public school district receives is announced by the PDE in May of each year. The amount of tax relief is dependent on the total tax revenue collected on the casino slots in the previous year. Thirty five percent of the slots tax revenues are used for property tax relief. In Lehigh County, the highest tax relief went to Allentown School District which was set at $530. The highest property tax relief provided, among Pennsylvania school districts, goes to the homesteads of Chester Upland School District in Delaware County which received $632 per approved homestead in 2010. Chester-Upland School District has consistently been the top recipient since the programs inception. The tax relief was started by Governor Rendell with passage of the gaming law. Rendell promised taxpayers substantial property tax relief from legalized gambling. According to a 2010 report by Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner, 76% of eligible property owners, in Lehigh County, applied for the property tax relief in 2009. In Pennsylvania, the homestead exclusion reduces the assessed values of homestead properties, reducing the property tax on these homes.