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Monday, November 2, 2009

Every time they try to raise taxes or tolls, the relevant agency turns up in a scandal

That's a bit of an overstatement. Ok, it's a lot of an overstatement. Still, check out recent history repeating itself: Early this year, Mayor Nutter wanted to close the city's budget hole in large part by raising property taxes. But that plan started to look awfully iffy when the Inquirer published a big series revealing that the BRT is dysfunctional in its central function: property valuation. The property tax plan got scrapped and instead the city is talking about BRT reform.

Then, last week, the state filed an application with the Federal Highway Administration to install tolls on I-80. Except this weekend we learned that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which runs I-80, is under FBI investigation.

I have no idea what's going to happen here -- if anything will come of the investigation or, if so, if it will impact the state's attempt to institute new tolls. But there's something sadly funny about seeing this dynamic again. The government can't very well ask citizens to accept tax or toll hikes if the agencies involved are suspected of wrongdoing or incompetence.

Review city services on our sister site, City Howl.
Posted by Doron Taussig @ 11:22 AM  Permalink | 11 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:40 AM, 11/02/2009
    Vince Fumo was a very, very smart guy. Taxes are unpopular. Revenue sources you can control and get jobs from and give breaks to allies through are very valuable and worth exercising informal power over. Hence the Turnpike Commission and the BRT and the Port Authority became places to control the flow of money over taxes that don't seem like taxes.
    — seand
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:19 PM, 11/02/2009
    This is why we need a)more intensive & frequent auditing of these agencies, and b)a strengthening of "Sunshine Laws"-that are supposed to keep a spotlight on how decisions are made, contracts awarded,etc.
    — Paul B
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:31 PM, 11/02/2009
    I don't think that AVI or a change in millage is "scrapped" by any means. AVI refers to the "Actual Value Initiative" that ties the so-called "market rate" valuation to sales data. For the first time in Philly history, the assessments will comply with the state requirement that assessments be based on objective criteria. For that to happen, the baseline data and processes have to be intact, and you just don't have that capacity in the patronage BRT as it exists now. Those people are not going to do the job. They're too beholden.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:33 PM, 11/02/2009
    Fumo is gone, and it's time to fix what Fumo and the Democratic machine in Philly subverted. The rule of law is making a comeback in Philly.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:35 PM, 11/02/2009
    I think the DN just endorsed Butkovitz for City Controller, whom PaulB rightly points out simply did not do the legal mandate of the role by performing annual audits of every city agency. It defies reason. That is why I can't even pay for this paper, it's so partisan to the extent of enabling the worst practices in city government. I can't wait for the lenders to take over. It's time for a balanced, intelligent, nonpartisan treatment of this city's problems, finally.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:44 PM, 11/02/2009
    Fumo for all his flaws merely practiced what Sen. Pileggi's Republican machine in DelCo still practice a little more flamboyantly. I'm down for fixing corrupt political machines - as long as we fix all of them. Most of the State Senate is full of the same flaws to slightly lesser extent.
    — seand
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:01 PM, 11/02/2009
    If Pileggi ever did what Fumo did, he would also be in prison, who are we kidding?
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:03 PM, 11/02/2009
    Where are the calls within the Democratic party to do the simple fixes that the BRT has need for years, without saying, like a bad husband, "but what about you what about you?" That's how bad spouses end up in court, and that's where the party leaders are going to follow Fumo if they don't root out the rampant theft of municipal services present at every juncture of Philly government.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:05 PM, 11/02/2009
    I'm not sure the BRT can be said to have been "raising taxes" either, since it doesn't do that. What it was doing was reforming, and certainly, there were people who want to slow that down. But there is no reason to delay AVI, even as the BRT undergoes a complete overhaul.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:14 PM, 11/02/2009
    John Street influenced?
    — Jp85
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:12 AM, 11/03/2009
    Clean Up Philly, Pileggi does do what Fumo did. He runs a one-party machine in the City of Chester where voters in presidential elections vote against his party 14-1 but somehow his party controlls every single elected office. DelCo Republicans are notorious for being even worse on party patronage than Philly Dems. Patronage is patronage is patronage, whether its the GOP in the Parking Authority or in DelCo, or Dems in the row offices here. They all need to go.
    — seand


11 comments
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Every year, city government spends slightly more than $4 billion. Where does all that money come from? More importantly, where does it go? Are we getting the most bang for our tax buck? “It's Our Money” is a joint project between Philadelphia Daily News and WHYY, funded by the William Penn Foundation, designed to answer these questions.




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