by KYW's Mike Dunn
Like it or not -- and many merchants don't -- Philadelphia now has a higher-than-ever sales tax.
The extra penny on the dollar took effect at after midnight on Thursday. This puts the city's sales tax at eight percent, compared to six percent in the suburbs.
Mayor Nutter says the hike is temporary, to last five years, and will bring in $115-million a year to help keep government afloat:
"That additional penny is what keeps our police and firefighters working, our rec centers and libraries open."
Nutter doubts merchants will suffer:
"We do not believe that there will be any material or significant impact on retailers. Sales tax is a point of purchase issue that you kind of deal with when you get your receipt."
Not far from City Hall, Marvin Rideout of Aire's Appliances on Chestnut Street says it absolutely will impact his business -- and he says he'll have to eat the difference to save a sale:
"If I'm selling a kitchen for $45-thousand dollars, the additional one percent is 450-dollars. That's out of my pocket, because I'm not going to lose the sale to someone outside of the city. People who live in the community and want to do local business -- some of these people are being forced to go Jersey, some are going to Delaware, because the difference is so great."
Rideout wants instead a national sales tax -- so everyone pays the same.
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