PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker announced a big change to her proposal for a hotel tax increase to fund homeless services.
The mayor previously proposed a 2% increase to the hotel tax to fund her goal of eliminating street homelessness. That would have brought the tax to 17.5%.
Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association president Ed Grose said weeks of negotiations followed.
“After meetings with every City Council member, my members decided the most prudent course of action was to make a deal with the mayor,” he said.
The new proposal is for a 0.6% increase, plus a 6% tax increase on short-term rentals.
Council president Kenyatta Johnson said it’s a move in the right direction.
“They’ve made some progress, but we’ll still review it as members of City Council. It just came out today, so I still want to get feedback from my members,” he said.
The tax would need state approval. The head of the Philadelphia delegation to Harrisburg, Morgan Cephas, said she’s working toward consensus.
“We need to make sure that we are lockstep together with an ask,” she said.
The new proposal would raise 15-Million. That’s less than the original plan.
The originally 2% proposed increase in the city's hotel tax was expected to generate an estimated $20 million annually.
