"...but no one expects it to go that high."

Tomorrow at 11am on Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane Marty will be talking to Larry Eichel of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Ed Schwartz who chaired the Philadelphia Tax Reform Commission. They'll be discussing Eichel's two-part series about the tax situation in Philadelphia. If you haven't seen it yet, you should check it out.

Hopefully our Could-be candidates for mayor will be listening tomorrow. Eichel points out that while Philadelphia has cut taxes in a very incremental fashion over each of the last 11 fiscal years, the overall tax burden on people who live and work in Philadelphia remains higher than just about any other large city. However, with just under two years left in the current administration, it will be up to the next mayor to figure out whether this tax cutting has delivered on its promise to create a more business-friendly environment or if those cuts have crippled the city's ability to deliver necessary services.

If you are a wonkish policy nerd who want further information or a policy staffer for a potential mayoral candidate who doesn't feel like doing this research on your own, here are some links to the reports that Eichel cites in his article:

Tax Rates and Tax Burdens in the District of Columbia - A Nationwide Comparison (for those families of 4 making $25,000, repeat after me "thank god we're not in Bridgeport!)

Kosmont-Rose Institute Cost of Doing Business Survey (Guess what? You don't have to buy it because Eichel already gave you the good stuff.)

For those of you interested in just how we got here, I found this great summary of the history of the wage tax in Philadelphia from the good (and way smarter than me) folks at the Pennsylvania Economy League. Skip down to page 6 for the article.

I've been fascinated by this for a long time. Essentially the wage tax was a prescription pain drug that the city became addicted to. Leaders kept upping the dosage just to stay afloat and before anyone realized it, the city was out on the Admiral Wilson Boulevard in a short skirt, fishnets and knee length boots, selling its body to get the money for a score just to get through the next fiscal year. In fact, it's somewhat ironic that the Philadelphia Inquirer is the one staging this current intervention to draw attention to the tax issue. Here's a quote from the Inky in 1961 when the wage tax stood at 1 1/2 percent:

"There is always the danger of pegging the wage tax at so high a rate that it would drive small businessmen and professional people out of the city. But no one expects it to go that high."

High indeed. Good call guys!

Feel free to call in to Radio Times tomorrow. I'll try to follow up with some good soundbites from tomorrow's show.