Mayor Nutter's Next City Budget Will Include 9% Property Tax Hike
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- KYW Newsradio has learned that Mayor Nutter will propose a hefty increase in city property taxes in order to give the cash-starved Philadelphia School District an extra $100 million.
Mayor Nutter delivers his budget for the coming year to City Council tomorrow, and the big question has been how he will respond to the latest hat-in-hand request from the school district.
The District's projected deficit for the 2015-16 school year is about $80 million. But Superintendent Hite and the School Reform Commission have made the higher requests to the mayor and governor to pay for Hite's plan for academic improvements. They are also seeking $50 million in labor concessions
School officials want an extra $103 million from the city, and twice that from the state. The city budget is still under wraps, but multiple sources tell KYW Newsradio that Nutter will propose a nine-percent increase in property taxes to meet that need.
The property tax rate would go from 1.34 percent of assessed value to 1.46 percent, according to sources.
Sources also tell KYW Newsradio that Nutter's budget will include about $25 million dollars in new spending, particularly for the Department of Licenses and Inspections and for the Community College of Philadelphia.
Whether Council goes along with what would be a fairly hefty property tax hike will be determined over the course of the next few months, both in public budget hearings and in private discussions between the Nutter administration and councilmembers.
Stay tuned to KYW Newsradio 1060, CBS-3, and CBSphilly.com for updates on this story.