A dispute between City Council members has left the fate of an important tax bill package up in the air.
City Council President Democrat Anna Verna has pushed for a review of the bills by the Committee of the Whole Council, which includes the entire 17-member council, while Democratic majority leader Jannie Blackwell has argued the bill should only be seen by the Committee on Finance. If the dispute cannot be resolved, the Republican minority leader Brian O'Neill will have the deciding vote.
After hearing extensive recommendations by the newly formed Tax Reform Commission, Councilman Michael Nutter introduced a package of tax bills that coincided with the decisions of the committee. The bills include recommendations that affect local businesses and residents, including measures to reduce the city's wage tax, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
"Right now, rather than looking at individual bills on an ad hoc basis," said Christine Ottow of the Mayor's Press Office, the council should examine the bills "in context with the city's overall budget."
"We should wait until we complete the budget process before considering measures that would change the city's ability to fund services," Ottow said. The tax bills cannot be judged in the context of the city's budget until Mayor John Street's annual budget address, which is scheduled for March 18.
Verna spokesman Bob Previdi said Verna will continue to insist that the bill needs to be "debated in full view of all council members" because limiting the bill to review only by the Finance Committee "doesn't do it justice."
The council "ought to be well informed about what they're proposing," Previdi said, calling the next year "difficult" for the city.
"We need to be very smart about how we go about this," he added.
With Philadelphia losing businesses and residents to the suburbs, Previdi highlighted the importance of instituting these types of tax reforms. "If we want to stem these tides, we need to take positive strides" toward retaining and attracting businesses and residents.
However, he noted that there is "no immediate hurry for this to occur." Mayor Street's annual budget address will not take place until the middle of March, and the council has until May to decide on tax initiatives to be in accordance with the city charter.
Any proposals by the council have to fit into a $3 billion budget, Previdi said, or else the council may have to wait and institute the proposals in future years "depending on the reality of the budget."
Many components of the bill could directly affect the University's employees and faculty because every Penn employee must pay the wage tax. Penn professor of Political Science Jack Nagel noted in an e-mail interview that "to attract employees who have other options [of working in the suburbs or in other localities without such high local taxes], Penn must pay a premium in salaries to offset the wage tax."
"The wage tax discourages people from living in the city and depresses the general economy of the city [and] Penn suffers from having a less prosperous and vital environment," Nagel wrote.
