Panel included Andrew Altman, Commerce Director, City of Philadelphia, Peggy Amsterdam, President of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Camille Cates Barnett, Ph.D., Managing Director, City of Philadelphia, Tom Muldoon, President, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau. Moderated by Moderated by Mike Dunn, the City Hall Bureau Chief for KYW. Standing at the microphone is Krista Bard, Board President, CCPA. Photo: Nicole Contosta.
By Nicole Contosta Weekly Press Staff
Civic engagement and fiscal responsibility were key words at the Center City Proprietors Association’s (CCPA) 6th Annual State of the City Panel discussion last Wednesday, April 30th.
With a panel discussion that included Andrew Altman, Commerce Director, City of Philadelphia, Peggy Amsterdam, President of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Camille Cates Barnett, Ph.D., Managing Director, City of Philadelphia, Tom Muldoon, President, Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Steven Wray, Executive Director, Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, those in attendance received a well-rounded overview of the state of Philadelphia from political, cultural, business as well as economic perspectives.
Moderated by Mike Dunn, the City Hall Bureau Chief for KYW, Dunn, a former UN correspondent from 1985-1990, set the discussion’s tone for how much the city’s political environment was in need of renovation when he joked, "covering the UN was a piece of cake compared to covering city council." [more...]
For people who, obviously, don’t-get-out-much, going to an "exotic" place like Starbucks might seem like a junket to another country, a place where the English lingua franca fails to function.
I once stood behind a woman at the 18th and Market Streets Starbucks. It was packed with the 8:45 AM crowd, anxious to get their drinks before heading over to the office. The woman, nervous and confused, did not appear to know how to order: what size, what blend, what extra (whipped cream, nonfat milk, flavored syrup). She stood there fidgeting, while the line behind her grew longer; the barista pushed her to make some kind of a decision. Finally, in disgust, she said, "Oh, just give me anything!" And she slapped down a half a sawbuck note. Apparently that dialect was understood.
Philadelphia has long been a celebrated dining town. Now it has developed the critical mass necessary for a burgeoning café society, even if Starbuck’s regularly gets packed on a workday morning. [more...]
Philadelphia’s Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT) might soon have a lawsuit on its hands if it doesn’t address the city’s inaccurate assessment of property values.
"If we make the same pay, then we pay the same city wage tax," said Brett Mandel, President of Philadelphia Forward, the non-profit that plans to sue the BRT. "If we buy tickets to a hockey game, then we pay the same amusement tax," added Mandel.
The taxes we pay for property values on the other hand, said Mandel, "are unfairly distributed."
According to Mandel, "the average city home is assessed at only 32 percent of its potential sale value."
To illustrate this point, Mandel, cited the example of the disproportionate property taxes for two homes sold in 2007. While one house in Southwest Philadelphia on the 2300 block of St. Alban’s St. sold for $480,000 and a Northeast home on the 3300 block of Holmes Ave sold for $88,500. The home that sold for $88,500 had a tax bill for $1,494 and the other, worth almost three times as much, only had a bill for $1,311. [more...]
