Should Pittsburgh tax non-residents who work in the city? (Greensburg: school, taxi)

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Personally, I believe the reason people say we are over taxed is what we actually get from our tax dollars. Awful schools, roads and sidewalks that look post-war, corrupt police, fire departments who rely on volunteers, laughable transportation, and trash filled landscapes. The question for isn't why are taxes high (because comparatively they aren't horrid) but it's what do our taxes actually do?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by trlstreet

Again, I think some form of consolidation is necessary.

Assuming that is impossible, I wonder if the CONNECT group could work out an approach. It would be a big, controversial issue, but in theory it seems like a reasonable task for them.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Personally, I believe the reason people say we are over taxed is what we actually get from our tax dollars. Awful schools, roads and sidewalks that look post-war, corrupt police, fire departments who rely on volunteers, laughable transportation, and trash filled landscapes. The question for isn't why are taxes high (because comparatively they aren't horrid) but it's what do our taxes actually do?

That plus how the tax burden is distributed has changed. We've got all these loopholes and exemptions and credits and work-arounds and so on, and so some very high-income entities (people, corporations, non-profits, and so on) are paying a lot lower average rate than some lower-income entities, and some lower-income entities are sometimes facing higher marginal rates than some higher-income entities.

The problem is to solve all that, you have to be willing to do some things that taken alone would raise revenues, such that that you can lower overall rates. And as we have seen in this thread, there are people who reflexively oppose such tax reform efforts.

[gg]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

That plus how the tax burden is distributed has changed. We've got all these loopholes and exemptions and credits and work-arounds and so on, and so some very high-income entities (people, corporations, non-profits, and so on) are paying a lot lower average rate than some lower-income entities, and some lower-income entities are sometimes facing higher marginal rates than some higher-income entities.

The problem is to solve all that, you have to be willing to do some things that taken alone would raise revenues, such that that you can lower overall rates. And as we have seen in this thread, there are people who reflexively oppose such tax reform efforts.

Nice that you restate what I said earlier. Guess you fully agree the rich are not paying taxes and the middle class gets killed.

[squarian]

Originally Posted by hey man_its me

Yep, more taxes, that is ALWAYS the answer....

Not always. Sometimes the answer is mass expropriation.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by greg42

It's a tricky balance. Some cities do have commuter taxes, but impose that here where there's never been one and it could cause some businesses to purposely relocate outside the city limits to avoid it. Off the top of my head that would be the main drawback.

That might happen, especially if a business had already been on the fence about relocating.

I can see a company presenting a relocation for a reason like this as some sort of new employee benefit. As in "sure we had to reduce your health care. But tell ya what, we'll move so you don't have to pay those new taxes. After all our employees are our biggest asset..."

[UKyank]

Note I do not support this:
But, wouldnt the easiest way to implement a so called commuter tax in a way to have significant intake to charge all commuters a 3% wage tax (which city residents pay), then allow a deduction of whatever the percentage they pay to their own locality.

[jimmyev]

This is a tiring subject. Pittsburgh always wants more money because the people it employs (mayor, city council) simply don't know how to grow a tax base and can't balance a budget. Many many cities exist without taxing commuters. Some of the largest and fastest growing cities in the US don't tax commuters - yet they manage. Of course you'll get 1,000 excuses why Pittsburgh can't manage without a commuter tax...

[SteelCityRising]

I've long wondered why myself that I'm paying roughly 3.5% of my income in wage taxes because I live and work in the city while someone living in Cranberry Township who works in the city pays nothing. Why not reduce it to 1.75% and then make it a universal tax on ALL who work within the city boundaries, regardless of their residency?

[Copanut]

Should Pittsburgh tax non-residents who work in the city?

Only if we are allowed to vote those stupid Dems out of office.