The Push For Tax Reform In The News (10/19)

In case you missed it, here are some mentions about the push for tax reform that appeared in the media recently:

"I thought the mayor would use the summit to validate his position regarding the future of the city. To wit:  We cannot reduce taxes any more. We must save our precious public resources for city government and to pay for the administration's pet economic-development projects.  It turns out I was wrong.  I've obtained a copy of the group's interim report, as prepared by the city Commerce Department, and it is a straight-on, honest, unflinching appraisal of what Philadelphia needs to do to grow people and jobs.  The main ingredient, as the report put it, is: "Taxes! Taxes! Taxes!"

"This is the third group to examine the state of the city in the last two years. The others were the Tax Reform Commission, which was created by the voters, and the mayor's own second-term planning group, another bunch of muckety-mucks.  All three have recommended tax reductions as essential to the city's future. I would call that a consensus."

"At this point, I can only think of one person who has consistently opposed this line of thinking.  His name is John Street." 

(Full Column)

• "City tax debate likely to reignite" -- The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that we are moving closer to a second go-round on the tax debate and quotes Councilman Michael Nutter saying, "I think that increasingly the case is clear that even out of the mayor's economic development summit that one of the main issues in Philadelphia is tax reform." (Full Article)