Like It or Not, We Are Bailing Out The Philadelphia School District !
Is this deja vu, history repeating itself, or just a broken record ? Last year, property taxes were raised 10 percent. This past 
week, it was announced that City Council voted to raise property taxes 3.85 percent. And why are the taxes being increased yet again ? It is to bail out the poorly run Philadelphia School District. It is mind blowing enough that the School District has the audacity to ask for over $100 million to begin with but what is worse is that they will receive over $50 million on the backs of homeowners and increased parking meter fees. The other option that was on the table was a tax on sugary drinks which was defeated.
The messages that I hear from the City of Philadelphia ring loud and clear.
- If you buy a home in Philadelphia, we will penalize you with more and more taxes.
- If you want to visit Philadelphia, patronize our businesses and use our services, we will penalize you with high parking fees.
Their heads must be screwed on backwards because they are going about things in reverse order. Here is how things work in the real world.
- Encourage Philadelphia business, tourism, and home ownership by keeping taxes and parking fees low.
- More homeowners and business and visitors creates money and an invested community.
- Money and an invested community demands an effectively run government.
- An effectively run government and an economically thriving Philadelphia will give birth to a great school district which creates a huge desire for people to live, work, and visit.
- A great city has a reason and a right to ask for more such as increased property taxes and parking fees when it provides for the people who benefit from it's greatness.
Not so with the current backwards strategy. There is no means to an end. The problem with raising taxes is that it does not solve the problem. Throwing more money at poorly run institutions is setting the stage for more money next year. Why is no one answering the hard questions in terms of how did the school district get to be over $600 million underfunded in the first place? An audit should be done to identify how the Philadelphia School District could be run more efficiently and effectively and to identify how the top paid officials can be held accountable for the future. I think the taxpayers deserve that. What's going to change over the next year or the next five years? Are we looking at another property tax increase or sugar tax debate? Maybe the sugar tax was the better option after all since it is more like a "sin" tax. If you need an orange soda that bad, perhaps you should be taxed.
Obviously, any tax increase is going to raise questions and stir controversy. That is why we have elected officials and if we do not like the outcome, we can vote them out or get involved ourselves. No one is going to agree on this topic. I am not trying to stir the pot more but simply asking my own questions. Feel free to address them in the comments or ask your own questions too. Let's start a discussion. We all need to raise the awareness for the next round of tax increase discussions. Because the way the City is being run, the question now is not "are more taxes coming?". The question is "What new taxes are coming and how much will it cost us?" Hopefully, in the interim, these institutions can be run more efficiently to save dollars (Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) is one glaring example).
- Why tax only property owners to fund the common interest of the City (school district) ?
- On that same note, raising real estate taxes (although small) is just adding fuel to the fire of the already slow Philadelphia housing market. Did City Council do a study of the taxes that they receive from the 4 percent transfer taxes when properties are sold? This declines in slower markets and increases in stronger markets.
- When will increasing parking fees become a deterrent for visitors, shoppers and businesses?
- Will renters face this tax ultimately by increased rents through the increase in real estate taxes over the last 2 years?
- Since these funds were going for one source - the School District - wouldn't it have been more equitable to have a tax that would have been paid by everyone, not just property owners (i.e. sugar tax or sales tax)?
Whatever the vote would have been, there are simply too many taxes in Philadelphia.
What are your thoughts ?
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