City Council Reaches Deal: Property Taxes To Rise, Soda Tax Dead

June 16, 2011 10:30 PM

(City Hall chambers was packed on Thursday morning with many expressing opposition to Mayor Nutter’s proposed tax on sweetened soft drinks. Photos by Mike Dunn)

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia City Council reached a proposed deal that is expected to raise around $53 million in revenue for the city’s cash-strapped school district.

According to sources, the agreement includes a hike in property taxes by 3.85 percent for one year, a permanent raise of the Center City and University City parking rates by 50-cents, and an additional $10-million from its $50-million emergency fund.

Mayor Nutter’s proposed “soda tax” is not included in the agreement.

Nutter held a late evening press conference reacting to City’s Council school district bail out plan.

“I think that ultimately the students of this city are certainly the beneficiaries of a lot of hard work and effort by our administration and certainly city council. This is the kind of effort that we need to demonstrate, not only on the ground, our support for public education, but also when working with our partners in Harrisburg.”

The Mayor says the $53 million that will be raised by the proposed property tax hike and parking increases will help restore critical school services, such as bus transportation and reduced class sizes. But not all key programs will be restored.

“There may be some things that don’t get funding. And one of those things is accelerated schools,” said Nutter

Nutter says the funding voted on by City Council may not cover the program.

Dr. Arlene Ackerman also spoke with reporters.

“The district started with zero this morning, we’re now at 53 (million), so there’s no way I’m going to say that I’m disappointed.”

Reported by Ben Bowens, CBSPhilly.com; Mike Dunn and Cherri Gregg, KYW Newsradio

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City Council Reaches Deal: Property Taxes To Rise, Soda Tax Dead

bob

vote them all out, i hope the sheeple of philla start to wake up,it the way goverment of the city and the feds, the schools need to rid of the ack attack, since she came everything went to hell,he is going to lose tax base because people will leave the city, and i am one who will leave this city,this city will be like detriot in the near furture, so i hope you voters that but these idiots in office like what your made,

state engineer

bob you are so right.

mike jones

and of course the aholes on city council still kept DROP. God forbid they take a dollar or cut the fat out of their own departments. Lazy pricks.
Stephen Jacquindo

Are you kidding me! The city has lost another member of their shrinking tax base. I. like many other residents are going to start looking twice as hard to move out of the city because of this latest slap in the face.Good luck trying to raise money for the city because if they keep dipping into our pockets more and more,the taxpayers are going to move where they get more bang for their buck. Can you say “DETROIT”

Bye.

There are plenty of people moving into Philly.

Andy

We need a soda tax.
grumpy

Everyone wants the Federal and State to cut back so guess what? The Local’s can’t pass the buck. Don’t bend over folks! Opps, too late.
dmartinez

everyone knows what needs to be done now vote those valtures out of office!!!! we all have to stick together so our voices are heard loud and clear. let’s not say it do it or everyone in the city is going to continue paying higher property taxes with no end.everyone needs to march to protest the taxing system
kelprod

It is very simple…keep blindly voting democrat Philly…you are getting EXACTLY what you have asked for and what you deserve. Bob Brady, Johnny Doc and the rest of the self serving democratic machine have totally destroyed the once great city of Philadelphia. Totally destroyed it. Until the blind sheep voters in Philly magically grow brains and start to elect better leadership, Philly will continue to lead the race to the bottom against Detroit….and deservedly so.
vote them out

City council should be voted out of office. at the same time they are taking drop money, they haave the Ba..s to rasie the taxes of overwork, overtaxed city residents. City council and ackerman is the problem….not the gov….
C.P.

I am an extremely upste parent. Why the hell are the citizens of the city of brotherly love always paying for the mistakes of the incopetant people that are employed by the city.
Ackerman needs to be terminated and someone with some knowledge of how to budget should be hired. She needs to get fired before she blows through the 53 million and we get taxed for breathing the air
Those that voted for Nutter made a huge mistake and we are all paying for it. The entire time that he has been in office he has been eliminating programs, libraries, fire stations, and now the “nut” wants to tax soda to raise money for the school district!!!!!!!!!! Why doesn’t he cut the salry of the city employees whom are overpaid, lazy, rude, and ignorant to the people who pay their salaries and provide the perks that they abuse on a daily basis. If the city IS IN a deficit why in the world would this Mayor provide a trip for all city employees and their families to an amusement park (Dorney Park). NUTMAN THE CITY CAN’T AFFORD TO PAY FOR YOUR EMPLOYEE TRIP SO CANCEL IT!!!!!! WE THE TAX PAYERS REFUSE TO PAY FOR YOUR TRIPS

dmartinez

i agree with your comment!! very nicely put!!! they are going to continue to take everyone. i’m right there with!!!

Eric

Wondering why it needs to be called a “bail out.” It’s over-used, trite and has negative connotations. Very tired of media manipulation. Wish we could just have impartial reporting of the news again.
Mr.Jackson

Let’s cut Ackerman’s salary by at least 50%. Doesn’t she have a $400,000 salary? Since she has done such a poor job managing this district, rate her unsatisfactory on her performance rating and cut her salary. Makes you question the accuracy of her qualifications. I read on her biography she was credited with improving the DC public schools. Have they EVER been good? Not in the last 3 decades at least! How can one take Tile 1 funds from their assigned purpose and assign to full-day kindergarden? Those are Federal funds and MUST be used for their intended purpose. More crooked manipulation of funds. NO MORE MONEY!!! We taxpayers who are still fortunate to have a job are TAPPED OUT!
Point fingers in the right direction

I wish the anger can get redirected back to the Govenor, where it belongs. He’s taking the states tax dollars and taking it away from schools and giving it to prisons and gas drillers…. If he didn’t take away all of the money from education, we wouldn’t be in this gigantic mess to begin with.

kelprod

Education should be funded locally….it is not the responsibility or obligation of Pennsylvania taxpayers to fund the continued fiscal stupidity of the city of Philadelphia. Until the residents of the city start electing better quality leadership, they should be forced to live with the democratic/ patronage/ big government fools who are running the city. Sorry, Philly has made their own bed and now need to lie in it for awhile. Corbett is clearly not to blame…that is a weak scapegoat accusation.

teacher

“Until the residents of the city start electing better quality leadership, they should be forced to live with the democratic/ patronage/ big government fools who are running the city. Sorry, Philly has made their own bed and now need to lie in it for awhile.”

Kids can’t vote. And how do you think they’re going to be able to cast an educated vote when they are older? Only through investing in education.
derek

That’s right, oil and gas companies should definitely be allowed to extract natural resources from the ground, contaminate the water table, and not have to pay a dime while they make billions.

That’s right, the state should take all of the tax revenue from Philadelphia, and redistribute it to the rest of the state. It’s not fair for Philadelphia to expect any of that money back where it came from. Even though Philadelphia carries the state’s tax burden, that money should be spent in East Bumbleduck.

All of that is fair.

Tom

It’s time to roll back these outragous salieries get rid of the drop program sell all the city cars theres no reason for these people to have a city car when we have public transportation throught the city we would save on insurance and high fuel cost if more money is needed layoff some people problem solved
Sol Horvath

How about Michael Nutter paying a tax on all the adulterous trysts he has past midnight in Center City? That should raise some serious $$$.
Lenny

I remember back in 1995,16 years ago when then coucil president John Street pushed through the 10% by the drink tax which was suppose to help the school district resolve all their money problems. Where is all that money? Someone has been taking from the pot. Why is with these cities when they can’t managed their money,just raise taxes or create a new tax? I can’t walk into my boss’ office and ask for a raise if I don’t have enough money or wnat to buy a frivilous item, so they should make do with what they have just like everyone else.

???

“I can’t walk into my boss’ office and ask for a raise if I don’t have enough money or wnat to buy a frivilous item,”

Why can’t you ask?

Jack Busch III, Esq.

Agreed. I am with Sam today. Do the right and respectful thing and just do it baby! That’s my 2 cents.
Sam Spade

How about just a flat 10 cents a bottle or can?
Does anyone realize the the proposal has this tax indexed ? Which means if inflation goes up, so does the amount of tax.
Linda D Bryant

First the Nutman raised property taxes. Now he wants the residents to pay more money if they enjoy Soda, Gatorade or any other sweet/fruit drinks.
This is just ridiculous!!!!

It’s remarkable that this and other major cities can always find $ for some things.
Obviously, properly funding the PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM IN THIS COUNTRY IS NO LONGER A PRIORITY!!!!

Since I don’t have any kids in school–I won’t drink another soda if this tax is implemented!!!!!!
MikeSouthPhilly

The city is wasteful and a lot of the city employees earn way too much money (especially considering how shoddily many of them do their jobs). Start cutting there. Taxing us for soda because the government is bloated and out of control is… well, it’s politics.
K. Rev

Tap into Ackerman’s salary instead of the reserve fund. She doesn’t deserve that kind salary. She hasn’t done anything for the school district since she’s been here, and now she’s asking for $$$? She needs to be ousted, and get someone inn there who cares about our kids’ education.
sammysamples

Instead of a big 2 cents an ounce on soda, why don’t they have a 1/2 cent per ounce tax on all overly sugary drinks(hugs,sweetened iced teas, lemonade, fruit punch drinks, vitamin water, etc). It would spread out the tax burdon over a larger group of people and probably bring in more revenue to boot. I think the tax is a good idea, but 2 cents is just a bit too high.
TMack

Why is the solution always a TAX on something?!? I agree with Bill H’s comment. Don’t we pay enough in taxes period to the Local, State and Federal Governments?
Stop this madness!

dmartinez

i agree with you !!!! we need to let our voices be heard. enough is enough and remember we have the power to vote them out

Bill H

If this tax happens it will open the door to taxing everything. There is already a sales tax in the city. They are making money from the casinos where is that going? This will chase more taxpayer sout and before you know it the city is a giant Camden!
Cherry

$600M is a lot for any school district to save in one year.

Why are they nearly doubling the price of soda? Any economic theory has reasonable limits.
A H M

Hmmm….Didnt ackerman get a BONUS! Sound familiar!!!!
Lazy/disruptive kids=Special ED=No kid left behind=Bonus