NEWS
June 17, 2013 | BY REP. DWIGHT EVANS
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...
NEWS
June 15, 2013 | By Troy Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
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.
NEWS
June 15, 2013 | By Jan Hefler, Inquirer Staff Writer
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.
NEWS
June 14, 2013 | BY JAN RANSOM, Daily News Staff Writer ransomj@phillynews.com, 215-854-5218
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.
NEWS
June 14, 2013 | By Troy Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
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.
NEWS
June 14, 2013 | By Amy Worden, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
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.
NEWS
June 14, 2013 | BY STATE REP. CHERELLE L. PARKER
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.
NEWS
June 14, 2013 | BY JAN RANSOM, Daily News Staff Writer ransomj@phillynews.com, 215-854-5218
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.
NEWS
June 13, 2013 | By Troy Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer
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.
NEWS
June 8, 2013 | By Megan Rogers, Inquirer Staff Writer
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.