Tax

By Alan Gottlieb When the British newspaper the Telegraph asked readers which of six suggested measures they would like to see introduced in the House of Commons, the response was surprisingly tilted toward one significant proposal. Of the six suggestions, which included setting a flat tax and placing a term limit on the office of prime minister, what drew more than 86 percent of reader support was a proposal to repeal the handgun ban of 1997. This is an unscientific poll, but the results should signal to U.S. gun prohibitionists that their habitual use of the United Kingdom as an example of domestic tranquility where guns are concerned just took a direct hit in the credibility department.

With a first-year record like Gov. Corbett's, it's a good thing he still has three more years to go. Or maybe not. Another three years could give Corbett time to make some progress, at least, toward pressing issues facing the state - like fixing roads and bridges, or making natural-gas drillers pay their fair share. There even may be time to do something about handgun violence that tragically ends hundreds of Pennsylvanians' lives annually (were the governor not such a gun-rights stalwart)

I'M CALLING IT the Harrisburg Syndrome: the chronic and costly practice of refusing to invest responsibly in education. Symptoms far exceed the number of schools closed - roughly two dozen or so in Philadelphia alone - and probably approach the 20,000 school employees furloughed statewide since Gov. Corbett cut almost $900 million from public education two years ago. A physician would look at the condition of public education in Pennsylvania and...

  There's budget trouble in Medford, an affluent Norman Rockwell suburb with two newly renovated fire halls, respected schools, and a variety of lush parks. Despite the recent economic turmoil and the township's apparently insatiable demand for amenities, its tax rate stayed flat from 2006 to 2010 and went up only slightly last year. And that is precisely why the Burlington County community now faces a financial emergency, say leaders of the five-member, all-Republican Town Council and a chorus of budget experts.

MAYOR NUTTER is constantly crying poor and trying to charge taxpayers more fees or provide fewer services. His new plan is to charge a weekly trash fee to help the city raise needed funds. Then, in the same day's paper is an article on Nutter appointing a former city official to a position heading the Office of Economic Opportunity. In plain English, this position is aimed at getting 25 percent of all city contracts to go to minority- or female-owned businesses. But the real kicker is that her salary will be $135,000.

For a country that's short of cash and repelled by Wall Street greed, this proposal sounds like a winner: Tax the sale of stocks and bonds. At a penny for every $2 worth of securities, such a levy would bring in about $12 billion a year. And it would fall most heavily on the fast-buck artists who buy and sell securities for speculative gain, not long-term investment. Or so the pitch goes. Unfortunately, even though the tax sounds small, it probably would jolt financial markets.

Facing what some see as the most dire funding crisis in decades, school districts across the region are proposing cuts that could drastically reshape their programs and communities. In district after district, officials have proposed budgets notable for what's missing: busing, kindergarten, athletics, librarians, languages, gym classes. Thousands of area school employees are likely to lose jobs, even as taxes in their districts rise. "This is unlike anything we've seen in the last 50 years," said Lou DeVlieger, superintendent of Upper Darby School District, which plans to cut 47 jobs, draw $4 million from reserves, and raise taxes 2.7 percent.

MANY have debated the mayor's proposed sugar-sweetened beverage tax, but it would be illegal. Pennsylvania law specifically bans the city from taxing an item that the state already taxes. As anyone who's picked up a six-pack of soda in a supermarket knows, Pennsylvania taxes ALL soft drinks at 6 percent, sugar sweetened or not. Like the state sales tax, the proposed sugar tax would fall on the consumer. If this tax were enacted, we'd pay separate taxes on the same item. In fact, the city designed this tax to fall on the consumer, claiming the goal is to change buying behavior.

Narberth's 1990 operating budget of about $1.5 million will require no tax increase after all. According to borough manager William Martin, the 3.28-mill tax increase that had been proposed was offset by unanticipated revenue, including a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to pick up 75 percent of the $80,000 estimated cost of renovating and building an addition to the borough library. Martin said the borough also received about $80,000 not originally figured into the proposed 1990 budget in reimbursement for compensation pay for a police officer out of work since 1984.

EVERY potential voter has heard by now that, as president, Barack Obama is going to give a middle-class tax cut and tax subsidies to 95 percent of Americans. These will be funded by income-tax increases on the country's richest 5 percent, in addition to hikes on the capital-gains tax, dividends tax, death tax, payroll tax and windfall-profits tax. You'd think that if 95 percent of Americans would save (or possibly make) money from electing Obama, he would be polling at 95 percent.

I'M CALLING IT the Harrisburg Syndrome: the chronic and costly practice of refusing to invest responsibly in education. Symptoms far exceed the number of schools closed - roughly two dozen or so in Philadelphia alone - and probably approach the 20,000 school employees furloughed statewide since Gov. Corbett cut almost $900 million from public education two years ago. A physician would look at the condition of public education in Pennsylvania and...

After more than two years of sometimes caustic debate over Mayor Nutter's property-tax reform effort, Philadelphia City Council set a tax rate under the Actual Value Initiative on Thursday without so much as a whimper of protest. Instead, the unsolved school-funding crisis remained the topic that drew full-throated public testimony and political speeches. Council also unanimously passed a $2-a-pack cigarette tax - drawing applause from a gallery of school supporters - but that tax will not take effect without state permission.

The Burlington County Board of Freeholders introduced a $184.2 million budget this week that slashes the amount traditionally collected for open-space programs as a way to keep the overall tax rate from rising. The vote was 3-2 along party lines, with the Democrats criticizing a proposed cut in the tax for farmland acquisition, open space, and historic preservation that would reduce the amount collected from $19 million to about $7 million. When the plan was unveiled at a board meeting Wednesday, about 30 residents objected, saying the county should continue to fund preservation efforts and create more hiking and biking trails, according to published reports.

IS MAYOR NUTTER'S proposal to increase the liquor-by-the-drink tax to aid the struggling school district dead? City Council President Darrell Clarke opted not to call up the bill for a committee vote yesterday. It would help plug a $304 million budget gap by raising the tax from 10 percent to 15 percent. The nine votes needed to ultimately pass the bill weren't there, but Clarke wouldn't say the bill was dead. He stressed that the city needs state-enabling legislation for Nutter's proposed hike to the booze tax, which would raise $22 million.

Philadelphia City Council members are a week away from their scheduled summer recess, and how they intend to find millions of dollars for a school district planning to lay off nearly 3,800 employees at the end of the month remains unclear. Council President Darrell L. Clarke did not call for a committee vote Wednesday on a bill to raise the liquor-by-the-drink tax, disappointing parents and school supporters who gave two hours of testimony urging approval. Clarke stopped short of saying the hike was dead, despite a lack of support among his colleagues and the clock's ticking toward the recess and the June 30 budget deadline.

HARRISBURG - The state House on Wednesday approved a $28.3 billion no-tax-hike budget, increasing education funding by $100 million and directing millions more to the disabled. The 108-92 vote, after five hours of debate, kicks off three weeks of talks with the Senate and the Corbett administration to arrive at a final spending plan. "This budget is a blueprint for good governance," said House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny). "It does not increase taxes, and provides the highest level of education funding and provides for the most vulnerable.

AS CITY COUNCIL weighs the impact of AVI and remedies to ease the burden, state lawmakers are working diligently to do what we can to ensure tax fairness for all Philadelphians. As the chairwoman of the House Philadelphia Delegation, I have appreciated the assistance and support of Council President Darrell Clarke and Mayor Nutter as I and others work with the Republican majorities in the House and Senate to give Philadelphia the tools necessary to address not only the city's fiscal challenges, but the plight of our schools.

PHILADELPHIA homeowners can finally figure out what their tax bill will be under the Actual Value Initiative, the city's new property-tax system. City Council approved a 1.34 percent property-tax rate yesterday and a homestead exemption that would knock $30,000 from a homeowner's assessment. The bill passed 11-5 with Council members Kenyatta Johnson, Bill Green, Mark Squilla, Brian O'Neill and David Oh voting against it. Councilwoman Marian Tasco was absent. "With the setting of the new property-tax rate and the homestead exemption, Philadelphia has entered a new era of fair, accurate and understandable property-tax assessments," mayoral spokesman Mark McDonald said.

Philadelphia City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a bill that would cap the 10-year tax abatement on new residential construction at $500,000 of value. The cap would go into effect in July 2015. The committee took a rare roll-call vote on the divisive issue, and the bill passed by 9-7, with Marian B. Tasco absent. The bill, sponsored by W. Wilson Goode Jr., could receive final approval on June 20. During testimony on the bill, Goode and Symphony House developer Carl Dranoff had several testy exchanges on the merits of the current tax abatement, which does not have a cap. The abatement has been credited with sparking a building boom - mostly in Center City and surrounding neighborhoods - but has been derided as an unnecessary tax credit to rich homeowners.

HARRISBURG - Bring on the lights, the cameras, and the action. So says Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware), who Thursday announced he was introducing a bill to uncap the tax credit for production companies that film in Pennsylvania. The Film Production Tax Credit program is capped at $60 million annually, but its supporters have argued for years that the cap limits production in Philadelphia and the state, let alone do anything to encourage growth. Pileggi and others argue that uncapping the credit could create jobs in the state.