Philadelphia budget faces hard sell in Harrisburg

By Angela Couloumbis

Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG - City Council members have signed off on Philadelphia's new budget - but key provisions of the spending plan still face opposition and skepticism in the Capitol, even among some city lawmakers.

The city's proposal to temporarily increase the sales tax, as well as make major changes to the terms of the city's pension-fund payments, now go before the legislature for approval.

Top Republicans who control the Senate have repeatedly said they have problems with both. And even some Philadelphia-area Democrats still are not openly endorsing the plan.

State Rep. Babette Josephs (D., Phila.) said yesterday that she had not decided whether she would vote for the measures.

"I am not happy about making Philadelphia less competitive with a higher sales tax relative to the counties around us," she said. "On the other hand, I respect the local people's opinion in Philadelphia; they are the experts on the city's needs. And I really don't like to run counter to it unless there is a good reason."

State Rep. Kathy Manderino (D., Phila.) said she wanted to "be supportive," but she worried about the financial implications for the city of the sales and pension proposals.

"I know how important this is to the city," she said, "so I hope we can continue to work with the mayor and City Council to see what we can work out."

And Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Phila.) said flatly that he could not support Nutter's sales tax proposal as written because it would put businesses in his district, which borders Montgomery and Bucks Counties, at a huge disadvantage.

"Part of my job is fighting for the local economy," Boyle said. "I am concerned that raising the sales tax would adversely affect neighborhoods like those in my district that border suburban areas."

But State Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.), chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, for the first time publicly said yesterday that he would support a temporary increase in the sales tax for Philadelphia, under certain conditions.

Until now, Evans has said he was studying the proposal, but not whether he would advocate it in Harrisburg.

Yesterday, he said he would push to make Philadelphia part of a separate budget proposal being floated by Gov. Rendell that would give counties the option of raising the sales tax by up to one percentage point.

As it stands now, that proposal excludes Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties, because both already have raised their sales tax higher than the statewide levy of 6 percent.

Evans said yesterday that he would support adding Philadelphia to Rendell's proposal, effectively authorizing Philadelphia to raise its sales tax to 8 percent.

"I support the idea of giving the city the option, but also giving all counties the option to do it," he said.

Even if Evans and other top Democrats in the House coalesce behind the city's budget proposals, the measures still face staunch opposition in the Senate.

Erik Arneson, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware), said yesterday that his caucus was keeping "an open mind."

Still, he said, "it will be difficult to convince the General Assembly to make these changes."

Contact staff writer Angela Couloumbis at 717-787-5934 or acouloumbis@phillynews.com.

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