From: Sen. Fumo
Date: 4/16/2002
Time: 9:48:37 AM
Remote Name: 172.23.151.14
While the rest of the state has gained jobs at a rate of 11.5 percent over the past 10 years, Philadelphia has lost jobs at a rate of 2.4 percent. The excessively high Philadelphia wage tax has helped to push jobs out of the city for decades, and has long been a drag on the regional economy. Recently, I introduced legislation that would lower the wage tax in the city of Philadelphia for residents and non- residents by 23 percent over five years. Since then, Philadelphia city council has passed a bill that will make smaller reductions in the wage tax, and the mayor has indicated that he will sign the bill. Although I am willing for now to allow the city to determine the rate of its wage tax reductions, I firmly believe that there is room for the tax to go even lower than the levels indicated in the city council legislation. It may be necessary for the state to become involved in the issue in the future. The distressingly high level of the Philadelphia wage tax affects not only the city, but also surrounding communities and taxpayers who live in those areas. And to the extent that the financial problems of Philadelphia eventually affect the budget and economy of the entire state, which they do, legislators from all over Pennsylvania have an interest in seeing that our largest city is in good financial health.