New poll: we hate taxes

A CCORDING TO A NEW poll from the Pew Charitable Trust's Philadelphia Research Initiative.

The 800 Philadelphians contacted for the poll are unsure about how deal with the $1.4 billion hole in the city budget. According to the survey, residents oppose Mayor Nutter's plan to increase the property and sales tax.

But a majority also opposes increasing the wage tax, which has been pushed as an alternative by some members of City Council.

That seems straightforward enough, but the poll also found that many people don't understand the ramifications of not increasing taxes. Sixty-two percent opposed reducing the city workforce by just 250 employees, which is only about 1 percent of the total. That's a major disconnect, since failing to raise taxes will undoubtedly lead to layoffs.

It's particularly puzzling because both Nutter and Council have tried to engage the public. More than 1,700 people attended community budget forums sponsored by the administration, and Council added additional public hearings in neighborhoods. The citizen input from these events runs counter to the poll results.

Part of the reason could be that responding to a poll requires little thinking. Who is going tell a stranger over the telephone that they want to increase taxes? In contrast, the forums actually required citizens to come up with actual solutions.

Ultimately, the findings are also a warning against government by polling. The financial crisis demands that Nutter and Council provide strong leadership. Their decisions should take public input into account, but must also be rooted in sound public policy. Some of the ultimate decisions might make the public unhappy, but it's clear that it's going to take hard choices to get the city through this crisis. *