Tax-rate tinkering won't work Philadelphia Inquirer 11/03/2009:
"With a poverty rate of 25 percent - 36 percent among children - Philadelphia is racing toward a precipice. Unless we get a handle on the underlying challenges, poverty will continue to climb, with the potential to top 50 percent by 2050.
But rather than chart such a new course, the final report of the Mayor's Task Force on Tax Policy and Economic Competitiveness largely rehashes the recommendations of the 2003 Tax Reform Commission, propounding generic, supply-side approaches that are not fine-tuned to Philadelphia's unique challenges and opportunities.
The task force's main proposal is to restart and accelerate reductions to the wage and business-privilege taxes, as suggested by the 2003 commission, and replace some of the lost revenue by increasing property taxes. The report cites research showing that incremental wage-tax reductions have preserved 25,000 jobs since 1996. But it fails to note that the poverty rate increased during the same period, from 20.3 percent in 1990 to 24.5 percent in 2007."
"With a poverty rate of 25 percent - 36 percent among children - Philadelphia is racing toward a precipice. Unless we get a handle on the underlying challenges, poverty will continue to climb, with the potential to top 50 percent by 2050.
But rather than chart such a new course, the final report of the Mayor's Task Force on Tax Policy and Economic Competitiveness largely rehashes the recommendations of the 2003 Tax Reform Commission, propounding generic, supply-side approaches that are not fine-tuned to Philadelphia's unique challenges and opportunities.
The task force's main proposal is to restart and accelerate reductions to the wage and business-privilege taxes, as suggested by the 2003 commission, and replace some of the lost revenue by increasing property taxes. The report cites research showing that incremental wage-tax reductions have preserved 25,000 jobs since 1996. But it fails to note that the poverty rate increased during the same period, from 20.3 percent in 1990 to 24.5 percent in 2007."
