by KYW's Tony Romeo
While much of the focus in the state capitol right now is on Governor Rendell’s push to hike the income tax, proposals to allow Philadelphia – and other counties – to increase the sales tax also remain very much alive.
After a hearing last week, Holly Kinser – a lobbyist for the city of Philadelphia – gave an upbeat assessment of the reaction to Mayor Nutter’s pleas to state pols to let the city increase the sales tax by one percentage point:
“We found overwhelming support from all four caucuses.”
Kinser said a bill to authorize the city’s sales tax proposal has been introduced in the House. But that proposal could be passed as part of another bill that allows almost all other Pennsylvania counties to increase the sales tax by one point, as well.
The chairman of the House Local Government Committee, Democrat Robert Freeman, isn’t ready to handicap the prospects for that legislation:
“I think the only hesitancy, at this point, is the fact that there’s so much uncertainty as to how our budget is going to work out.”
But Freeman says the county sales tax option does have “some traction.”
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