Letters: Reform Phila. taxes before adding others

ISSUE | SODA VS. CONTAINER TAX

Reform existing Phila. levies first

City Council President Darrell L. Clarke lambasted Mayor Kenney's proposed 3-cents-an-ounce sugary-drink tax and pressed for a beverage-container tax instead ("Clarke calls 3-cent tax 'ridiculous,' " Thursday). This criticism came from a man who supports raising the egregiously high real estate transfer tax to create changes in neighborhoods that need improvements. It's interesting to hear one politician indicate the absurdity of another's tax plans when he hopes to see tax increases to fund his plans.

Meanwhile, Council members are not pushing for tax reform - just new taxes. Wage-tax decreases have largely stopped, and business-tax reforms are missing. The mayor and Council president owe it to residents of all income groups to reform wage and business taxes, which might make their proposed taxes more palatable.

|Ryan Caviglia, Philadelphia