Mayor Kenney finds resistance to tax increases for Philly schools
As soon as Mayor Kenney finished calling, in his budget address Thursday, for more taxes to cover the School District’s $1 billion deficit, City Council members and the city’s fiscal watchdog pushed back on his proposal, which would increase property taxes for the fifth time in nine years.
“I think raising taxes should be a last resort, especially after raising property taxes several years in a row and the soda tax and the cigarette tax and the sales tax for the School District,” City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart said after the speech.
Council President Darrell L. Clarke called the mayor’s proposal an “aggressive approach” that could hurt some residents.
“It’s clear that there’s a problem with continuing to go back to the well, which is the taxpayers, and particularly given the fact that the people who have constitutional responsibility for education, which is the state, have not met its mandate,” Clarke said.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/philadelphia-mayor-kenney-budget-taxes-schools-underdogs-eagles-20180301.html
