In mid-June City Council and Mayor Jim Kenney approved a $4.4 billion budget for the next fiscal year before breaking from session for the summer. Additional funding will go towards a variety of programs, from incentives for employers to hire recently released offenders to the mayor’s “Rebuild” program, but even so the budget does not include any new taxes or tax increases. In fact, the city’s wage tax was reduced for both residents and non-residents. Instead, the city will fund the budget mainly through new tax revenues from a reassessment of commercial property values in Philadelphia and the sweetened beverage tax. Collection of the Philadelphia 1.5 cent-per-ounce tax on thousands of sweetened beverages began on January 1, but already the city has announced collections are not meeting projected levels. This shortfall, along with threats from the federal and state government to reduce funding next year to so called “sanctuary cities”, could become a problem for the city in future years, as pension and health-care costs increase dramatically.
The Commonwealth Court upheld a decision by the lower court that the sweetened beverage tax is legal under Pennsylvania Law, and an appeal has been made to the state’s Supreme Court to reverse that decision. PFMA is a plaintiff in the case and continues to help lead a coalition looking to repeal the tax and find an alternative funding source.
Earlier this session, PFMA was successful in blocking a 15 cent-per-container tax on beverage bottles and cans in Philadelphia, and worked with City Council to halt legislation aimed at limiting the use of restrictive covenants for grocery stores. Although well intentioned, the language included in the bill would have prohibited restrictive covenants that apply when a grocery store is still operating in the vicinity. This would have jeopardized many current food retail locations, and deterred small-format grocery store owners from investing in development out of concern that a larger competitor will move in and starve out any surrounding business.
The association has also been working hard at the state level to enact legislation that would preempt municipalities from banning or imposing a fee on plastic bags, which continues to be a major concern in Philadelphia following the release of Mayor Kenney’s Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet’s Action Plan. That plan recommends City Council pass an ordinance to ban plastic bags outright, because of the cost to collect and enforce plastic bag fees. PFMA supported a state bill that would have preempted Philadelphia and other municipalities from imposing such a ban was passed by the General Assembly in June 2017, however, Governor Wolf vetoed the bill before it could pass into law.
The Commonwealth Court upheld a decision by the lower court that the sweetened beverage tax is legal under Pennsylvania Law, and an appeal has been made to the state’s Supreme Court to reverse that decision. PFMA is a plaintiff in the case and continues to help lead a coalition looking to repeal the tax and find an alternative funding source.
Earlier this session, PFMA was successful in blocking a 15 cent-per-container tax on beverage bottles and cans in Philadelphia, and worked with City Council to halt legislation aimed at limiting the use of restrictive covenants for grocery stores. Although well intentioned, the language included in the bill would have prohibited restrictive covenants that apply when a grocery store is still operating in the vicinity. This would have jeopardized many current food retail locations, and deterred small-format grocery store owners from investing in development out of concern that a larger competitor will move in and starve out any surrounding business.
The association has also been working hard at the state level to enact legislation that would preempt municipalities from banning or imposing a fee on plastic bags, which continues to be a major concern in Philadelphia following the release of Mayor Kenney’s Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet’s Action Plan. That plan recommends City Council pass an ordinance to ban plastic bags outright, because of the cost to collect and enforce plastic bag fees. PFMA supported a state bill that would have preempted Philadelphia and other municipalities from imposing such a ban was passed by the General Assembly in June 2017, however, Governor Wolf vetoed the bill before it could pass into law.
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