Council Gives Preliminary Approval To Budget With Property Tax Hike, Stalls Soda Tax Legislation
Get inside the halls of Philadelphia power with PhillyClout: Inside City Hall, the blog by the Philadelphia Daily News' city hall reporters.
Council Gives Preliminary Approval To Budget With Property Tax Hike, Stalls Soda Tax Legislation
Catherine Lucey
City Council today gave preliminary approval to a temporary 9.9 percent property tax increase, but did not move Mayor Nutter's proposed soda tax legislation out of committee.
Nutter lobbied hard for a soda tax as part of his $3.9 billion budget plan. He originally proposed a tax of 2 cents per ounce, which faced massive opposition from the soda industry, local unions and business owners – who launched a huge campaign against the proposal. More recently he was gathering votes for a 3/4 cent per ounce tax, but couldn't get to 9 votes in time today.
"We need nine votes," said Councilwoman Marian Tasco. "The mayor has a week to talk to people."
Nutter’s original budget proposal also included a $300 per-household trash fee. But council balked at the trash fee, preferring a property tax hike, which they said was less regressive. Still, many members didn’t want to do a double-digit property hike, which led to the 9.9 percent agreement, set to last for two years.
The tax proposal must get final approval from Council next week.
Nutter has put the budget deficit for the coming fiscal year at up to $150 million. The property tax plan yields about $88 million annually. Nutter also agreed to cut an additional $17 million. If Nutter does not get the soda tax in some form, his aides have argued that the city's surplus fund balance will dip dangerously low. But some on Council weren't so sure.
"We have a proposal without sugar [beverage tax], which gives a $40 million plus fund balance," Councilman Darrell Clarke said.
Council also approved proposals to tax some tobacco products and increase trash collection fees for commercial properties, which will enhance revenues further.
Everyone complains about soda tax - they say stupid things like they will get their soda outside of the city (as if that wouldn't waste gas/money ) then they complain about property tax. There's a budget deficit. It happens. You have to pay for it somehow. Which would you choose, soda (which affects some people) or property tax which affects everyone. This is a no brainer...— jefuuetsukusura- Just out of curiosity, how many bribes do you think were accepted by the council members from the soda companies?— jefuuetsukusura
- Ya know, rather than constantly raise the taxes on everyone, why not cut things from the budget? Wait, that would make sense. The rest of us need to live within our means. The government just raises taxes, forcing everyone else to limit their budgets. Sooner or later, the people that can afford to leave will, and all that will be left are the poor who need more and more from the city. That's one vicious cycle the city of Philadelphia does not want to get into.— buttermilk67
NEW YORK, NY (WPIX) - Long Island exotic dancers gathered Wednesday in a rally to strut their support for a stripper pole tax. Prompted by the prospect of school budget cuts, owners of a gentleman's club and dancers hoped the new tax -- a voluntary surcharge added to a club's admission fees -- will help restore some of the much-needed after school activities.- Hey Kennedy, let's have a teachable moment. A surplus or fund balance in a city budget is like having a positive balance in check book. If you are so close to zero that you in fact dip below, you end up with the bank charge. In city government and any government, the best practice is to keep a cushion so that you can pay your bills and cover any emergency. the level that City Council wants to maintain is far too low and it's been this way on and off for years. The city almost perpetually runs close to broke. The 10 percent tax increase isn't fun for any of us but it has to be seen in the context of all that's been cut in the last 18 months... in fact a huge amount. In addition to the $50 million in cuts in this proposed budget, they cut out $1.7 billion. But the unions must agree to changes in pensions and the mayor must have the right to furlough workers in an emergency ... which we're in. Also, Council should be cut to 11 members; the row offices like sheriff can be done away with and their functions spread out to the courts, police and prisons. DROP is over for any new elected official. the state legislature took care of that.— Pangloss
Follow Chris on Twitter
David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
Follow Dave on Twitter.
Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
Follow Jan on Twitter
Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
Follow Sean on Twitter
