taxes

Drink tax opponents deliver on petitions

August 6th, 2008, posted by RobHop

Opponents of Allegheny County’s 10 percent drink tax on Tuesday delivered what might be twice the 23,006 signatures they need to get a referendum on the November ballot.

The referendum asks voters to slash the tax to 0.5 percent and would compete with another ballot question approved last week by County Council which seeks to replace the drink tax with higher property taxes.  read more »

State eliminating 491 tax collectors

July 3rd, 2008, posted by RobHop

Pennsylvania will have fewer tax collectors and, lawmakers hope, fewer deadbeat taxpayers thanks to a bill signed into law Wednesday.

The law reduces the number of earned income tax collectors from 560 to 69 and is expected to help counties save money and collect unpaid taxes.

Pennsylvanians who work out of state could be affected more than in-state workers.

Under the current system, many out-of-state employers, overwhelmed by Pennsylvania’s dizzying array of local tax rates and tax collectors, refuse to withhold local income taxes for their Pennsylvania employees. Some of those employees fail to pay the taxes on their own.  read more »

Some Philly Homeowners Brace for Tax Hike

April 10th, 2008, posted by Greg Palmer

In Center City, the $3 million home of the late novelist Pearl S. Buck was hit with a 28 percent tax hike.

Henry S. McNeil Jr., heir to the Tylenol fortune, was told his taxes were going up 108 percent on his $11 million Rittenhouse Square mansion.

On a somewhat humbler block, former City Councilman Angel Ortiz will see taxes go up 25 percent on his four-bedroom home in the Northern Liberties section.

Ortiz, who says he’ll appeal, wonders why he’s on the list, focused mainly on million-dollar houses in some of the city’s swankiest neighborhoods.

“Are they saying, ‘This guy is political, and we got to make an example of him’?” he asked.

Hold on to your wallet, Ed Spendell is back

February 6th, 2008, posted by Tony Phyrillas

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Gov. Ed Rendell wants to spend more of your money.

He also wants you to pay a higher tax on your electric bill to help the state find alternative sources of energy. The governor calls it a “public benefits charge,” but it’s a tax on electricity.

He wants you to pay more for property insurance premiums so he can pay for flood-control projects in areas where people built their homes in flood plains.

And if you smoke, Rendell wants you to pay another 10 cents per pack on cigarettes and users of other tobacco products will pay new taxes so Rendell can build medical research facilities.

The additional $230 million in higher taxes and fees is just the tip of the spending iceberg.  read more »

Rendell Budget Includes $400 Tax Rebates for Some

February 5th, 2008, posted by Greg Palmer

In his annual budget address today, Gov. Ed Rendell will propose tax rebates of up to $400 for nearly a half-million low-income families.

Rendell also wants to borrow millions toward a public building and economic stimulus package he says would inoculate Pennsylvania against an expected downturn in the state and national economies.

‘‘To protect the progress we’ve made, we need our own Pennsylvania economic stimulus plan,’‘ he said Monday, noting the federal plan that’s being assembled on Capitol Hill.


Micek has a more detailed look at the budget here.

Somebody is lying about property tax relief

January 29th, 2008, posted by Tony Phyrillas

I read four stories the other day in a Berks County newspaper. See if you can pick out a common theme.

The first, “Preliminary Antietam schools budget calls for higher taxes,” is about my local school district, which has raised property taxes every year since Gov. Ed Rendell came to office promising to ease the property tax burden on Pennsylvania homeowners. More on that later.

The next article was “Exeter schools budget calls for 7.8 percent tax hike.” I then jumped to “Gov. Mifflin budget would raise taxes” and then read, “Boyertown schools preliminary budget shows tax hike.”

All four articles were published the same day. Four school districts. Four preliminary budgets approved. Four significant property tax increases. How can this be?  read more »

Pennsylvania House Debates Dozens of Tax Cuts

January 17th, 2008, posted by Greg Palmer

A state House debate on lowering property taxes turned into a multibillion-dollar tax-cutting party on Wednesday, as the chamber gave preliminary approval to breaks on everything from cell phones and business profits to inheritances and pet adoptions.

None of the measures passed out of the House, because the votes were for amendments to an underlying bill that could come up for final consideration today.

Unbridled from a pay-as-you-go rule that is part of the budget process, the House stampeded through one tax break after another, as members paid little heed to warnings about the enormous hole they were potentially blowing in the budget.  read more »

To Woo Voters, Harrisburg Pols Push for Tax Cuts

January 15th, 2008, posted by Greg Palmer

With nothing less than political supremacy on the line, Democrats and Republicans in the state House will spend the opening days of an election-year session making a mad dash toward tax relief for voters.

The chamber’s Democrats, who hold a 102-101 majority, are pinning their hopes on delivering property tax breaks deeper than those promised from slots revenues.

Republicans have hitched their fortunes on reducing Pennsylvania’s 3.07 percent personal income tax, arguing that efforts to reduce property taxes without imposing tighter controls on school district spending are useless.

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