Given that the wage tax is high, and something needs to be done about it, I wonder...

Is the wage tax the primary deterrent of potential residents and businesses that we continually say it is?

I have recently moved back to Philadelphia from NYC (after 3 years there), and I must say that local taxes there were no picnic. I believe the rate is 3.65%, but when you include the overall cost of living difference, the strain on the paycheck is much greater in NYC for essentially the same level of city services. Yet, taxes were never an issue for me when I decided to move there (nor for any transplant to the city that I knew). I moved there (and this might sound naive) BECAUSE its New York...with all that means and describes. As I am 27 y/o and work in the film/televison industry, I guess my decision to move to New York fits into Richard Florida's "creative class" theory.

As for Philadelphia (my hometown)...yes the wage tax is a burden. But, I do not believe it is the primary deterrent its made out to be. I think people don't move here because they don't know (or want to believe) it is the "world-class" city that it is. Yes, it has a plehtora of problems...some major. But name one big city that doesn't. For FY 2003, New York has a deficit of nearly $2 billion, and there are proposals to raise the wage tax by a full percentage point (for the top earners, 2 percentage points). Will that have a negative effect on the city's economy? Absolutely. Will that cause residents to head for the hills leaving the city an empty shell as would be the case if those increases happened in Philadelphia? I doubt it. The question is:

WHY?

I believe what we have here is a marketing problem. One that is 50 years or more in the making. One that will take enormous investment to overcome. The good news is that in many cases this city has what people want. The bad news is nobody knows about it. Most people around the country think of Philadelphia and Detroit as the same place. THAT is the biggest problem we have.


Thoughts???

I think you have a lot of good points.

When I decided to stay in Philly after grad school, the wage tax wasn't a factor in me thinking about going elsewhere. Yeah, it's no fun, and yeah, I don't like seeing money deducted from each paycheck for it, but it's the price you pay (no pun intended) for living here.

I'd have to say that one of the big problems with Philadelphia is its image. For the first YEAR that I lived here I thought it was dirty and noisy and white trash. Luckily I've since discovered how great a city it is, but this city needs a major image readjustment, especially when its nickname is "Filthadelphia"!

I thought you made some excellent points. I have wondered about NYC taxes and the general cost of living there and why that city isn't (supposedly) as expensive to do business there. I work in taxes, and I know that their business tax is pretty high, though not as high as Philly's. I also know that rents for office space are if I'm not mistaken 2-3 times as much as they are here. So if you're a big company and need 1 million square feet of office space, you'll have to pay millions more per year there. I think the same goes with Boston - much more expensive than here. So I often wonder as to why Philadelphia has such a perception. I think that blame could fall on city residents, who often don't do much to promote the city. I was in Chicago on training once, and there were people there from places like Detroit, Indianapolis, and Cleveland talking about how wonderful their cities are. Few people from Philly piped in to say how great Philly is. It's part of the culture. Also, the political machine that runs the city seems very disinterested in Philly's perception elsewhere. They are more concerned with handing out jobs and favors to ward leaders and friends. Street makes this comment about Philly being a world-class city, but his administration, and his party, which has been in control for 50 years, has done little if anything to help the city. And why should they, because they know that regardless of what they do, they will get re-elected.

Brian,

I agree 100% that residents of this city in general do not champion Philadelphia to others. Its a "2nd-rate city" mentality that is ingrained in people who were born and raised here. Perhaps it stems from our geography (halfway between NYC and D.C.), or our losing sports teams. Who knows!? I must admit I had it too..until I moved away. It was then that I began to appreciate Philadelphia for the great place it is. Now, I tell everyone who can stand to listen about this city.

I often hear that (about being halfway between NYC and DC), but I think that many other cities would probably use that factor to their advantage. We are unable to. In fact, this entire state is full of cities, towns, villages, and hinterlands that have so much potential, but aren't up to that potential. Many people I talk to that move to this area comment on how, despite its problems, this area is kind of a hidden jem that no one knows about because in other places, you don't hear good things about this place. Hopefully, that will change.

What I pay in wage tax I get back with:

Public water and sewer, a professional fire department and medics, public transportation, a neighborhood as opposed to sprawling development, my neighbor is not a detention basin, etc etc.

My house would've cost $300K in Bucks County. The wage tax isn't a big deal....it's just another one of the little problems the city has that drives people away.

Although with the wage tax, we get some things back, it just is more in your face to see almost 5% of your salary gone.

Maybe if the city did a better job of explaining how other areas get taxed in different ways that ultimately doesn't make it so bad, people wouldn't hate the wage tax so much.

But i remember my parents, who don't live in the city, not paying a huge wage tax, but having firefighters, garbage pickup, snow removal, etc. Maybe that came out in another tax.

Yeah, I live in the 'burbs too. I'm not a homeowner, but I can say that we get many of those same things, without a wage tax. Actually, some townships have a 1% tax. Not only this, but our streets are always plowed. And our home values are higher. So people in the city get screwed by paying the tax. Not only do they pay it and not get what they deserve in return, but they also suffer home values which are depressed because of the fact that they're in the city. The bottom line is that this tax (and all city taxes like it) need to come down. There has to be better ways of running the city.

It's not a question of whether PHilly has a wage tax problem or a marketing problem, it has both. Most of my friends in the suburbs love to hang ou in the city but never move b/c of the tax. those that had worked down here considered getting another job in the suburbs with a lower tax a "raise." Also, NYC was in steep decline with crime, filth, declining pop., and job flights in the 1980's. It was Guliani and the police force who cut the murder rates in half and reduced all other crimes by attacking every crime no matter how small. This is why he got elected mayor. Moreover, he stopped job flight by getting rid of the commuter tax (of which Philly's is very high.) Why should a suburbanite pay 4% to work in the city? shouldn't we give them a break since they don;t get to enjoy the coty services? We should appreciate the workers who commute and keep our dry cleaners, vendors, lunch cafes, and such happy. Maybe they'llfrequent some happy hours and realize Philly ain't so bad after all. Regardless, Philly isn;t NYC and should not have higher taxes. People will move form all over th ecountry to NYC but not so with Philly We should not allow our wage tax to act as a barrier but at the same time we shoudl market the city better. the two things go hand in hand.

I agree with a lot of what you have all said, but the wage tax is a factor for businesses and the economy. It is a barrier that has and continues to keep many businesses from moving to the city because of the concerns of their employees.

Marketing the benefits of working and living in the city might help, but that will always be a barrier. If you are from a city with a wage tax then this is less of a factor, but for those of us in the burbs, it is a factor!