Philly can thank the casinos for a wage-tax cut

Hey, how would you like a 5 percent cut in your city wage tax?

Uh, you already got one, thanks to slots players across Pennsylvania.

When the Legislature approved gambling in Pennsylvania, some revenues were to be used to reduce property taxes in most of the state, and the wage tax in Philadelphia.

By now there are enough casinos open and enough cash in the kitty to fund a 5.7 percent wage tax cut here. That's larger than any of the reductions the city made on its own in the last 15 years, and good for about $2.30 a week if you're making $50,000 a year.

Because the cut came in two steps — a little last summer and a little in January — you may not have noticed it.

And city officials may not be too anxious to brag about it, since Philadelphia is a long way from opening either of its two allotted casinos, and is thus contributing nothing to tax cuts in the rest of the state.

"We've certainly talked about it," city finance director Rob Dubow said, noting that the casino-funded cuts were in Mayor Nutter's budget presentation last spring.

— Dave Davies