Nutter Administration Dismisses School Funding Alternatives Being Floated
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Nutter administration says proposals from mayoral candidates and City Council to raise money for the school district all fall short.
None of the mayoral candidates favor a property tax hike. But the mayor's finance director, Rob Dubow, says raising property taxes by nine percent is the only way the city can raise the $103 million the school district says it needs next year.
"The reason that we wound up with the property tax increase is, after we looked at the other options, it was the only one that fit the criteria we needed -- which was stable, recurring revenue for the school district that could start right away and not damage city services," Dubow said today.
He says other proposals, such as giving the district 60 percent instead of 55 percent of real estate tax revenues, would mean cuts in city services. And selling the rights to collect back commercial taxes, he says, would mostly be a one-time fix.