State pols put out cigaratte tax

WITH THE HELP of state lawmakers, Gov. Corbett slapped together a $140 million plan to help fund the distressed school district, but the deal did not include Mayor Nutter's $2 per-pack-tax on cigarettes.

Republican state lawmakers have so far opted against passing legislation that would have allowed the city to enact the tax, which Council and Nutter approved in June. The apparent death of the cigarette tax leaves a $45 million hole in what the city had planned to raise for the school district, which now will get $28 million in promised tax collections as the city's only additional contribution.

So, what's the city's Plan B?

At the conclusion of Council's budget process two weeks ago, Council President Darrell Clarke said that if the state failed to approve enabling legislation, Council was prepared to move to a "Plan B," though he has not provided any details on that plan.

"If you start talking about options in a public way while you still have the possibility of your 'Plan A' in play, I don't think that's a process that makes a lot of sense," Clarke said yesterday. "No pun intended, but until the last puff is taken on cigarettes, we're going to continue to push for that particular measure to be in play."

Nutter remains focused on that tax, and mayoral spokesman Mark McDonald said there isn't "something else that's being worked on."

But sources say another option would be to transfer additional money in the fall from the general fund to help plug the school district's $304 million budget deficit. The city received $2.6 billion in tax revenue for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2013, an increase of 7.7 percent. Some of that money could go to the school district, although any allocation would have to continue in subsequent years.

"We have to wait until the dust settles," said Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez. "From the beginning we were prepared to do our part."

Council members expressed disappointment that the plan stalled.

"The real story is about how sad our representation is in the general assembly that we can't get anyone to enact a tax that doesn't hurt anyone in the state," said Councilman Bill Green.

Corbett's plan includes $15.9 million in new money, $45 million in money that had been owed to the federal government and $50 million borrowed against the extension of the city's sales tax.

DN Members Only: SEPTA_looks_to_be_delayed.html">Meanwhile, state aid for SEPTA appears delayed.