Taxes
Next Time the Eagles Want a New Stadium, They May Have to Pay for It Themselves
Taxpayers and local governments have been subsidizing pro-sports stadiums since the Reagan years, and as the decades pass, the subsidies have only gotten bigger. During the […]
Can Disneyland Help Clean Up “Filthadelphia”?
Ever since Disneyland opened 60 years ago, cleanliness has been a virtue. Walt Disney designed the park so that visitors have trash cans at every turn — you’re never more […]
What Tom Wolf Wants in His Big, Bold Budget — and What He’s Likely to Get
Gov. Tom Wolf‘s budget “contains the most ambitious and bold set of proposals in modern history.” That’s according to Terry Madonna, a political science professor […]
44 Taxes We Pay as Residents of the Great City of Philadelphia
Governor Wolf introduced his budget on Tuesday. And in it he proposed an increase in spending, no pension reform, no long-term deficit reduction and no […]
Is Philadelphia Ready for a Plastic Bag Tax?
At Tuesday’s green-themed mayoral forum, one of the few issues dividing the six candidates was a prospective tax on plastic bags in our city. Although […]
Councilman Jones: Nutter’s Property Tax Hike Proposal a “Heavy Lift”
Before Mayor Michael Nutter even gave his final budget address Thursday, there were signs his plan to raise property taxes was on life support. Nutter is going […]
Tom Wolf’s Incredible Plan to Overhaul Philly Taxes
Gov. Tom Wolf unveiled his first budget plan for Pennsylvania Tuesday, and it’s nothing if not ambitious. What got a little lost in the coverage of Wolf’s […]
The Brief: Wolf Primed to Blow the House (and Senate) Down?
All eyes on Tom Wolf. At 11:30 a.m. this morning, Pennsylvania’s new Governor will propose a budget—really a governing agenda—that is expected to be more […]
Cities Are Powering the U.S. Jobs Recovery
The Great Recession may have wiped out millions of jobs, but employment is bouncing back and urban areas are leading the way, according to a […]
The Brief: The Mayoral Campaign’s Big Tax Reform Idea
One of the biggest ideas in the mayoral race to date was hatched not by any of the candidates, but by Center City Executive Director Paul […]
State Senators Art Haywood, Vincent Hughes Propose 8 Percent Shale Tax
Two Philadelphia-area Democrats have unveiled their plan to tax natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale. Sens. Art Haywood and Vincent Hughes announced their proposal […]
The Brief: This Mayor’s Race Is Bad For Business
Yesterday in City Council, some of the leading advocates of lower wage and business taxes showed up at a hearing for Councilman David Oh’s quixotic […]
Inside Take: How City Hall Makes Blight Worse
(This is an opinion column from a Citified insider.) This could prove to be a seminal year in Philadelphia’s seemingly intractable fight against blight. The launch […]
Natural Gas Price Plummets, But Fracking Tax Still a Wolf Priority
States that depend on energy resources to power their economies and budgets are tightening their belts as the prices of oil and natural gas fall, […]
Paul Levy Wants a Truce Between Center City and Neighborhoods
Mayoral elections in Philadelphia have a tendency to become battles between neighborhood interests and Center City ones, and there are plenty of indicators that 2015 […]