Another tax shakedown in the name of “the children”
Philadelphians might feel better about being taxed if they could point to their schools as best in the nation, or the state, or even in the metro area. But we can’t. The schools still stink.
Thursday the flock of seagulls we call City Council is scheduled to vote on pieces of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s proposed budget, specifically on her requested $1 per ride tax on ride-hailing services. (Parker originally proposed a 20-cent tax per ride, but then bid herself up.)
That tax has received wide-spread objections, and not just from Uber and Lyft.
Many in the public, which is supposed to be represented by Council, have complained, and some Council members are uncomfortable with that tax. Other proposals include increasing the hotel tax (usually paid by visitors, who are not represented by Council), a tax on deliveries, and cell phone towers.
Parker bared her fangs at those with the nerve to challenge her shakedown:
“But 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. And that is to decide how we will drive revenue to the School District of Philadelphia."
Well, I never.
She also complained about a divide and conquer strategy led by advertising from Uber and Lyft and social media designed to get clicks and likes.
Parker begins to sound a bit paranoid.
Why the need for the taxes? This year to fill the $300-million hole in the school district budget, which is as big as Billy Penn’s statue above City Hall. And as unmovable. Some 340 school jobs are at risk, Parker said.
There is always a hole in the school budget and City Mothers and Fathers always seek to close the gap through more, and more ridiculous, creative taxes.
What do I mean by creative taxes?
I mean the notorious so-called soda, or sugary drink tax, also applied to beverages with no sugar.
That was mainly to plug holes in the school budget, plus fund a couple of other deals, such as pre-K and parks. It was like throwing the Billy Penn statue into quicksand. The money sank without a trace.
Before that, there was the $2 a pack tax on cigarettes, largely for the schools, and before that the 10% tax on drinks served across the bar.
One plug after another, each failing like the parking tower in Gray’s Ferry.
And the mayor, whoever it is, always bleats about the children! We must do this for the children!
That would be the children who have been performing below grade average for decades, maybe generations.
Philadelphians might feel better about being taxed if they could point to their schools as best in the nation, or the state, or even in the metro area. But they can’t. The schools show slight improvement but still stink. Their taxes reward failure.
The bill for education keeps going up as the number of students goes down. Not a lot — 200,000 in 2016 vs. 198,000 today — but still a decline while costs soar. There seems to be a massive disconnect.
Here’s a summary, assisted by ChatGPT, of income sources supporting Philly schools.
Local real estate tax provides about half of the District’s funding.
Then a portion of the city wage tax is directed to schools, and is the second largest funding pool.
State funding is roughly comparable to local funding.
Philly gets a portion of state sales tax, and some of that goes to the schools.
In third rank is funding from the feds.
Then there is the tax on unearned income directed solely to schools.
And there is no hope the hemorrhage will stop.
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When the city came up with the idiotic soda tax, I wondered what would be next — a special assessment on cheesesteaks, for the children!?
I was wrong. The geniuses came up with ride-hailing services, which many people use because Septa is so bad.
As Calvin Coolidge said, “Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.”
Will City Council legalize the robbery? For the children!
