PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mayor Cherelle Parker is firing back at rideshare companies for opposing her dollar-a-ride tax to raise money for schools.
At a City Hall news conference on Wednesday, Parker blasted companies such as Uber for their public campaign against the proposed tax.
“How dare you tell me as mayor of this city to tell the people in this city that we cannot and should not enact what is one of the most limited powers that we have?” she asked.
If City Council were to adopt the mayor’s proposal, the School District said the extra $50 million from the rideshare tax and a separate tax on cellular towers would prevent 340 school-based cuts.
“We won’t have to reassign teachers and climate staff and other hard-working people,” said Superintendent Tony Watlington.
The mayor said rideshare companies have the option of absorbing the tax, but Uber spokesperson Jazmin Kay disputed that, noting the ordinance explicitly said otherwise.
“Section 19-1808 requires rideshare companies to collect the tax ‘from the passenger’ as an agent for the Board of Education. This is a tax on the rider’s transaction, not a fee on the business, despite the administration's attempt to frame it otherwise,” Kay said, adding that the city has an existing rideshare tax that is ostensibly meant for Philly schools.
“In a moment of real affordability strain, adding a new $1 fee on top of the existing 1.4% rideshare fee creates a regressive double tax that will limit access to work, school, and essential services, even as thousands of jurisdictions across the country choose not to tax rideshare at all.”
The mayor said she was unapologetic and that her job is to provide solutions. A spokesman for City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said the entire budget is still under consideration.
