Staff Blog
Where's the best sledding hill in Philly? (1 Answer)
HOT DAMN: Nutter says he’s gonna listen
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PHILADELPHIA — Mayor Michael A. Nutter said Tuesday that Philadelphia would have to raise taxes or fees to close its budget deficit.
[snip]
At a series of public meetings on the budget, Philadelphians said they were willing to pay higher taxes to preserve services threatened by the budget crisis.
[snip]
Mr. Nutter, who is in favor of cutting the wage tax, said he was “surprised and concerned†that people favored a rise because it could hurt economic growth.
It's a little hard to interpret what this means. So Nutter might raise the wage tax even though he doesn't think it's a good idea? Or he'll raise other taxes? Like I said, it's early to draw any conclusions. But it appears as though citizens went to forums, said we wanted a tax hike, and now the mayor, who has always been a big supporter of tax cuts, is considering a tax hike. That's a good thing, right? And, as Helen Gym points out at YPP, good for Philadelphia for taking this position. (Although there's also this: "Many people favored closing a city prison and finding alternative sentences for nonviolent offenders." I'm all for alternative sentences, but I'm not so sure we can afford to close a prison...)
[...] of Mayor Nutter’s budget proposals, and wrote up a helpful summary of the big points. I’ve been a bit preoccupied with the question of whether Nutter will listen to the “advice” of citizens who went to [...]