Citizens' take on city's tax take

It's hard to name a pro-tax movement or to imagine headlines praising government officials who raise taxes.

But when asked yesterday what they thought of Mayor Nutter's proposal to charge for trash pickup and increase the tax on sugary beverages, many Philadelphians were surprisingly mellow.

"It would be a bummer, but I'd rather pay it than not have my trash picked up," said Aidan Rich, 22, of South Philadelphia. "I'd rather pay 10 cents more for soda than have the libraries close."

Nutter will introduce the proposed $300 per household yearly trash pick-up charge and the 2-cents-per-ounce tax on sugary soda and juice this morning when he formally presents his budget to City Council. He said the surcharge and the tax would generate enough money to prevent service cuts.

West Philadelphia resident James Jones, 66, said he would sign a petition against the trash charge, but he didn't think it would be as painful as Nutter was proposing.

"In the past, Michael throws something out that he knows is going to be protested," Jones said, "then he'll come down on it and we'll be happy he came down."

Jones called the soda tax "ridiculous," but said he'd pay an extra tax on apple juice. Or vodka.

"You gotta increase something," he said. "I'd like to keep people in their jobs. Five cents here, 10 cents there isn't going to make a difference."

Less Zen about paying an extra $300 a year for trash pick-up was Jenna Ochroch, 26, of Southwest Center City. The service was already spotty, with trash being left behind on the street and recyclables being mixed with waste heading for the dump. Why pay more for that?

Money for the budget shortfall could be found elsewhere, Ochroch said, and she knew exactly where to look.

"Pull it out of the parking tickets they put on people unnecessarily," she said. "They get a lot of money and I don't know where it's going. Why can't we toss that at the garbage men?"

One woman was, literally, spitting-mad about Nutter's plan. As she waited for a bus outside City Hall, she gestured at the building angrily as she spoke.

"I'm on disability," she said. "I already can't pay for the trash bags to put the garbage out."