The "Nutter Butter" Solution: More Taxes?

But, what's being done with the tax dollars we're already paying?

Are your streets being cleaned on a regular basis? Are potholes, sewer covers, and other neighborhood (not highway) street repairs being fixed in a "timely" manner, i.e. before someone gets hurt or their car is ruined? Did you see any evidence that the schools were getting any portion of your tax dollars BEFORE this current crisis? I feel these are all questions we need to ask ourselves, and then ask Mayor Nutter before we turn over another dime for anything! I've been on rail about the school crisis for some time now and I'm still on a rail about it. Now, I’m on a rail about this too. Enough is enough! SOMEBODY needs to tell us what's being done with the taxes we're already paying! We’ve heard our local government officials say over and over again for years, “There’s no money.” Okay, but…

Where did it (our tax dollars) go?
Why is there no money (our tax dollars)?

City Council is in session right now and a flurry of proposed legislation is landing in an effort to close a budget gap for the Philadelphia School District. Some new taxes seem more likely to fly, based on conversations with Council members and staffers from Mayor Nutter's administration, while others look dead on arrival.

Ultimately, it seems likely that some composite of new revenue sources will be pushed to fund the district. The proposals are:

1. A 10% property tax increase that would raise $95 million, proposed by Mayor Nutter. Nutter's staff said he put this forward at the request of Council members while Council President Anna Verna said Nutter offered the idea at a meeting yesterday.

2. A smaller property tax increase for one year, proposed by Councilman Darrell Clarke, that would raise $37 million for the district. Verna said both property tax proposals are likely to fail.

3. A 2-cent per ounce tax on sugary drinks, which would raise about $60 million from October 1-June 30, 2012, if implemented by October. This proposal, similar to a failed Nutter effort last year, will face fierce lobbying from beverage makers and distributors. Nutter spokesman Mark McDonald called this the preference for the administration, rather than a property tax increase.

4. An increase in parking meter rates that will bring in $6 million.

Nutter's staff says this can be approved by regulation, with no need for legislation.

Some Council members will also push Nutter to spend some or all of the $50 million surplus in the current budget. And, there is some hope that the state will restore some education funding, especially if the city puts up a chunk of cash.

We should no longer accept answers to these questions like... "Where the money has gone or why we don't have it is beside the point. The point is, it's gone and what are we gonna do about it?" If we don't find out what mistakes have been made with our tax dollars in the past, this scenario will continue to repeat itself over and over again...