Tax collection down in July

The Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority reported today that the city's general fund tax collections were down 5.9 percent last month, as compared to July 2010. Except for the parking tax, collections from all the significant taxes -- wage and earnings, sales and real estate transfer -- were down.

PICA noted that "collections for a single month can be a misleading indicator due to monthly variabilities," but said the numbers "suggest the possibility of a general slowing in the rate of growth for the wage and sales tax bases."

The real estate transfer tax took the largest fall, dropping by nearly half. PICA attributed this to the flurry of real estate activity in the summer of 2010, as first-time homebuyers scrambled to take advantage of an expiring federal tax credit.

The full PICA report can be seen here.

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