Some council members are asking increasingly pointed questions about Mayor Nutter's tax proposals, wondering aloud what evidence there is that tax cuts create jobs and pushing the administration not to do away with the so-called David Cohen tax cut for the working poor.
Councilman Darrell Clarke seemed the most skeptical at today's budget hearing. If tax cuts are luring businesses back to the city, Clarke said there's no evidence of it in his district. He asked city Finance Director Rob Dubow to research the job-creating effects of tax cuts "in a serious way."
"There’s looking into it and then there’s really looking into it," Clarke said.
We haven't heard the last of this issue...
UPDATE: Told you we haven't heard the last of the issue. Brett Mandel, the city's chief tax cut proponent and head of Philadelphia Forward, called Heard in the Hall to note that already enacted tax cuts have saved the city more than 22,000 jobs, according to an expert hired by the Street administration. The city's Tax Reform Commission, however, predicted its proposed cuts would save 47,000 by 2010. There's a lot of job saving left to be done over the next two years to meet that goal.
Comments (1)
I recently moved myself and my business out of Darrell Clarke's district.
It cost me about $5,000 to move down to Houston, Texas. This week, I visited my new accountant. If I earn as much as I did last year, my taxes will fall bout 50 percent. The more I earn this year, the greater my tax savings.
The city of Bellaire, where I now live, does not tax the self-employed. The state of Texas allows businesses and self-employed to earn up to $300,000 a year before state taxes kick in.
So, my question to the City Council: Why should small businesses poised for growth remain in Philadelphia?
Minority businesses, small businesses, and woman-owned businesses are in a difficult situation: they don't have the cash reserves required to get the big contracts - which often are slow in making vendor payments.
So how do you get bigger?
If the city wants to help small businesses, it needs to invest in training city workers; open up economic opportunity for small businesses at city hall; ensure timely payments on city contracts and ensure bids and notices are advertised in minority and community newspapers.
The Los Angeles Times recently wrote a story about how the minority businesses moving to Houston. People are leaving other places - not because they want to - but because they have to if they are stay afloat.
Posted by Linda | March 25, 2008 9:32 AM
Posted on March 25, 2008 09:32