Shots for schools?
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Shots for schools?
Need another reason to drink? How about improving the futures of Philadelphia's kids?
Mayor Nutter and City Council are rarely on the same page these days, but a proposal to increase the “liquor by the drink” tax to help fund the School District’s $60 million request seems to be gaining traction on both sides.
City Council President Darrell Clarke has mentioned the possibility of raising the tax, which now adds 10 percent to your bar bill, in recent budget hearings. Nutter indicated Thursday that it's a proposal his administration is considering.
The mayor voted in favor of creating the tax as a freshman councilman in 1994.
"Council President Clarke and I have talked about that, and I am certainly interested in that kind of proposal but my track record on that one is pretty clear," Nutter said. "That [1994 vote] was a tough vote for a lot of folks but I thought it was the right thing to do then and it’s certainly something that we should explore now.”
The possibility of increasing the tax by 50 percent (to 15 percent per drink) has been floated. The tax brings in more than $45 million per year for the School District. So increasing it by half would not be enough to be the silver bullet martini shaker for funding the schools' request.
Here are some other ways to raise revenue for the School District that don't hit neighborhood bars. First drop the proposed wage tax cuts of $167 million over five years which are mainly a giveaway to the rich. (Someone earning the median wage would get a bonanza of $123 over five years from the cut while a millionaire would get almost 30 times as much.) Second, make the big universities and hospitals actually pay for the services they get from the city just like the rest of us. Third, cut back on tax abatements. Fourth, pass Maria Quinones Sanchez bill that would set U & O rates at a level that would recoup the bonus they would receive from AVI. Enough with squeezing those who already have little to nothing to spare.— Stan Shapiro- As a practical matter, increasing the wage tax wage tax (or slowing reductions) and eliminating tax abatements will continue to drive out residents with strong earning potential. One of the many reasons that people move to the burbs is to avoid the crushing blow of Philadelphia's tax burden.
Moreover, as a matter of fairness, the schools should be paid for by the people that use them. The high earners that you complain about don't send their children to public schools. If you want to fund the schools, start by collecting overdue taxes.— jfar86 - Stan is right. And, Mayor "Transparency" Nutter should come clean about why he has 150 Deputy Mayors and Assistant Managing Directors (all patronage jobs)at a cost more than $18 million a year. Do we need all that patronage bloat to park Nutter's fan club?— union guy
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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
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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
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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
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