Politics & Government

Council Recommends Property Tax Up, Soda Tax Gone

A day-long meeting of City Council and the Committee of the Whole led to budget compromises.

It was a marathon, not a sprint, to an agreement on the budget bills before City Council’s Committee of the Whole Thursday.

But after hours of testimony and discussion in chambers and wheeling and dealing outside of chambers, the committee voted 11-6 to send six of the bills out of committee with a favorable recommendation, including a property tax hike of 3.5 percent.

In a showdown of what one attendee called “schools versus jobs,” council heard from the public on how the schools need-- and deserve-- funding from the city.

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They also heard from those who , which was dismissed, as a measure that would kill Philadelphia jobs.

Milton Street made a memorable appearance where he criticized any plan that would raise taxes, but rallied behind school funding.

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“I’m not saying we shouldn’t fund the schools. I’m definitely not saying that,” Street said.

“A 40-cent tax on a 20-ounce soda? That’s brutal.”

Among the beverage tax naysayers were representatives from local Pepsi and Coca Cola bottling plants, both of which located in Northeast Philadelphia.

“We don’t understand why we’re being singled out. We are one of the few industries that has been investing in this city,” said Francis McGorry, representing the Coca Cola bottling plant.

“In the end, we need to know, should we stay in Philadelphia, should we continue to invest in Philadelphia?”

McGorry and others speaking against the tax warned that the tax would mean the loss of jobs in the Philadelphia plants, and indirectly, jobs at retailers and loss of business for Teamsters in Philadelphia.

Their warnings were heeded as, throughout the day, support for the tax waned. At one point in the day, it was rumored that the nine votes needed to pass the tax were obtained, but slowly those votes unraveled. The tax that Mayor Michael Nutter fought for in a televised speech the night before the committee hearing fell by the wayside.

Still, Council was determined to find a way to . During the hearing, Councilman Curtis Jones compared the cost of educating a student in Philadephia (about $17,000 a year, he said) to the price of incarcerating an adult (about $26,000, according to Jones’ numbers).

“We either pay now, or we pay later,” Jones said, indicating that uneducated youths are more likely to fall back on crime.

Students attended the meeting in large numbers, holding signs and chanting in unison, “S.O.S. Save our schools.”

After hearing from those who came to , Council recessed, held their , recessed again and reconvened the meeting shortly after 8 p.m.

In the meantime, the lobbying and compromising was happening behind-the-scenes.

As proof of the unusual length of the marathon day, in and around Council chambers, Council President Anna Verna began the reconvened meeting with “At this time- I don’t know what time it is…”

The bills, which were given a favorable recommendation for the next session of Council, will provide $37 million to the school district, through a 3.5 percent property tax increase. An additional $16 million is planned to fund the district through the city’s fund balance and increased parking meter fees.

The bills were given the favorable recommendation with a vote of 11-6, with Council members Blackwell, DiCicco, Krajewski, O'Neill, Rizzo, and Verna voting against.

They will be voted on officially at the next meeting of City Council.


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