Philadelphia Tea Party Cancelled

From the Inquirer

No tea chests are being thrown into the Delaware this time around.

No firestorm against tax plan
Many said they would rather pay more than suffer cuts in services. But that sentiment was not unanimous.

By Joelle Farrell and Dwight Ott, Inquirer Staff Writers Posted on Fri, Mar. 20, 2009

In this economy, the old saying about the certainty of death and taxes can take on a rougher edge. But many Philadelphians yesterday approached Mayor Nutter's proposal to raise property and sales taxes with the same sort of resigned shrug.

"You gotta do what you gotta do to keep things afloat," said Leo Procopio, 40, a butcher from South Philadelphia.

Tim Coleman, 38, who lives in Germantown and works in the cardiac unit at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, agreed.

"Nobody likes taxes," he said. "If Harrisburg won't give him the money, what choice does he have?"

Neither homeowners nor renters interviewed yesterday were thrilled about paying 19 percent more in property taxes this year. But many said they'd rather bite this bullet - which Nutter said would be temporary - than lose police officers, firefighters, libraries, or other services.

"Libraries are very important to children," said Anna Greenwald, 29, a social worker who owns a home in the Rittenhouse area. "They are a necessary service. They are not something you can shortchange."

"He's not closing any swimming pools or libraries," said Mark Lightfoot, 40, the proprietor of a Germantown hair salon. "In fact, he said there would be four more pools opened. Of course, there is always the downside of raising taxes, but we have to do it."

Nutter's plan would raise the city sales tax from 7 percent to 8 percent for the next three years. It also would require a 19 percent increase in property taxes for one year and a 14.5 percent increase over the current rate the next year.

Nutter has said property taxes would drop back to their current level by the third year, although some wonder whether he will follow through once the government gets used to the additional revenue.

"I think what bothers a lot of people is that they fear he is not going to be able to roll back the taxes after three years the way he says he is," said Rian Baker, 31, who works at Lightfoot's hair salon in Germantown.

The plan still has plenty of critics, including many who came to pay bills at a collection center at 22d and Somerset Streets in the Swampoodle section of North Philadelphia.

"He's out of his mind," said Norma Henley, 76, as she walked toward the center's glass doors. "He can't keep putting it on homeowners. Too many people on assistance are falling through the cracks. I think there are other ways of getting tax revenue.

"If I could leave" North Philadelphia, she said, "I would. If it keeps getting like this, I will."

Antonio Robinson, 45, a florist, said he already was thinking of leaving North Philadelphia because of the crime rate. "It's just adding insult to injury," he said. "This neighborhood is like Dodge City."

Cici Perkins, 22, who was sweeping a rug outside an Italian Market beauty-supply store, expressed a sentiment many Americans have felt as Congress uses taxpayer money to bail out banks.

"Why should we have to pay for what somebody else messed up?" she asked.

Still, when pressed to decide whether she'd prefer to have city services cut, Perkins relented.

"You need the libraries for the children, regardless," she said.

Tim Sagges, 48, who owns two eyeglass stores in Philadelphia, said he wasn't sure how anyone could afford the increases. But somehow, people will have to.

"It just sounds like a lot," he said. "It's just a big pill to swallow. Maybe it's necessary."