PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Council is considering a bill that would cut the parking tax. Its sponsor says it would help the city's recovery from the COVID-19 shutdown and improve working conditions for garage attendants. But the bill is proving to be controversial.
Councilmember Cherelle Parker's bill would cut the parking tax by a third — from 25% to 17%. The Kenney administration already proposed knocking it back to 22.5%, but opposes the steeper cut. Finance Director Rob Dubow testified at last week's hearing on the bill that it would cost the city $90 million over the next five years, without any guaranteed benefit.
"Reducing the parking tax could simply increase profits for parking lot owners and operators," he said.
Parking magnate Rob Zuritsky countered that it would allow garages to hire back more workers and offer discounts to lure drivers back to the city. He said the parking industry had been among the hardest hit by the pandemic with business down by 90%, and the relief was needed.
"This tax reform sends a message to job creators across the country that Philadelphia is serious about being tax competitive with other major business centers," he said.
Zuritsky tried for years to get a reduction in the parking tax, which he says is the highest in the country. What was unusual at last week's hearing was the support from the progressive union SEIU. SEIU has managed to unionize some parking workers and the language in the bill would help them win benefits they might not be able to gain at a negotiating table. President Gabe Morgan said the bill holds lot owners accountable.
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"[Owners] have to commit in a way they can prove to council that they will improve the lives of their workers," testified Morgan. He called the bill a model for holding employers accountable to let workers share in savings from tax reductions.
That message did not persuade other progressive groups and members of Council. A statement from three opponents on Council called it "a return to using 1980s trickle-down economics to hand out tax breaks for wealthy individuals and profitable corporations."
"We should be pursuing more equitable sources of tax revenue, not resorting to regressive policies that fail to strengthen the public services," said the statement from Councilmembers Helen Gym, Jaime Gauthier and Kendra Brooks.
Parker unapologetically defended the bill but said she would not seek to advance until she had proof the tax savings would be used to benefit workers.
"Passage will await the outcome of a determination by the good parking jobs for Philadelphia review committee that the conditions in the parking industry favorably support the development of stable jobs and provide a path to advancement for workers in the industry," she said.