PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Day two of Philadelphia City Council hearings on the mayor’s budget saw more pushback on proposals for new taxes and tax increases.
Council members seemed to take a dim view of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s proposed $1 per trip rideshare tax to fund the school district during the first day of hearings. During Wednesday’s hearing, they took on other new taxes Parker introduced in her budget.
Councilmember Nina Ahmad said she’d already been receiving calls about a proposed 2% increase in the hotel tax, projected to generate $20 million, which would be earmarked for ending street homelessness.
“I just feel Philadelphia does not project to the world we are growing, we are exciting, come here, invest in us. What we project is, we are going to tax you to death,” she said, suggesting the tax should include a sunset provision.
“If homelessness goes down, the need for it goes down, do you exit out of that?”
Other members had questions about the 25-cent per order retail delivery tax to fund pothole repair, which — like the ride share fee — is likely to be passed along to consumers. Food would be exempt, but Councilmember Jaime Gauthier asked Revenue Commissioner Kathleen McColgan what would happen if a single order had other items in addition to food.
“If a delivery includes a non-taxable product and a taxable product, the tax would be applied,” responded McColgan.
More hearings are scheduled for Tuesday.
2nd day of budget hearings included questions about taxes on rideshares and food delivery, as well as a hotel tax increase
