Officially Calling Bullshit
Cross posted in comments at Young Philly Politics…
I am sorry that the mayor feels he is forced to shut libraries, but there is no excuse for providing misinformation when a constituent asks a question and provides a possible avenue to avoid those closings.
The mayor, who should know better, told me last night at the town hall meeting that the liquor tax is a state tax. The Philadelphia Department of Revenue begs to differ (warning PDF):
The Liquor Sales Tax is a School District tax that is imposed upon each taxable sale at retail within the School District of Philadelphia at a rate of ten percent (10%) of the sale price.
The payment of the tax is due on the 25th day following the month in which the tax is collected, i.e., if the tax was collected in January, the return and payment are due February 25th.
Sales from Pennsylvania Liquor Stores and Malt Beverage Distributors are excluded from the tax.
After 10 minutes on hold with the revenue department for clarification from a human (maybe they’re cutting back too), I called Philadelphia Forward instead: I don’t agree with everything Brett Mandel’s group stands for, but they DO know a lot about taxes. PF confirmed for me that the liquor-by-the-drink tax was passed by act of City Council, is levied only in Philadelphia, and supports only our school district (which is controlled by the state).
I do not see why council could not act to add another few cents on top of that to fund our libraries. I realize no one likes tax hikes but I have to say, as someone who drinks a lot of beer and would be directly affected, I wouldn’t feel it all that much, and certainly not enough to stop hitting bars. In fact I would be happy to pay a few cents more for booze if I knew it was supporting literacy and opportunities for kids.
What I am NOT happy about is being told something that is patently untrue and easily disproved. It’s disrespectful to say the least… but then again, there was a lot of disrespect last night, and not just the kind that was well-deserved from the audience.
As always, I’m happy to be corrected. Also, I really, really have to get better at closing my tags.
…adding that I need to know more about the process involved, and I’m not some kind of expert. If cutting services is an emergency that must go through, I can’t see why emergency revenue measures can’t be considered as well. Penny wise, pound foolish, as they say…
I just want to see the damn libraries saved.
December 17th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
i’m betting it he wasn’t purposely spreading misinformation. he probably doesn’t know. just like he didn’t know the answer when the woman asked how many sw schools had libraries…sheesh even i knew that just from reading the paper.
December 17th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
somegirl, i have to disagree.
he was in council when the bill was passed, in 1994. My bet is he voted for it too.
he knows. bet on it.