State still has to approve sales tax hike, or there'll be cuts

Brian X. McCrone
Metro Philadelphia Newspaper

Summary: City Hall has approved a 2009 -2010 city budget which will cause businesses to be damaged by a sales tax increase for the next five years. State Rep. John Perzel said “Mayor Michael Nutter or Council, show no effort to downsize city spending despite the economic downtown.” Some major businesses are lying off 40 percent of workers. Perzel also said “So far, it doesn’t look like the city is doing anything to help itself." If Nutter doesn’t have state approval then big cuts to city government would become a reality. The city also needs approval to put off funding the city workers' pension for two years. A state Representative also had concerns about sales tax to increase, but couldn’t support it. Councilman Wilson Goode Jr. said. "Those who are looking to save money are already looking at the current sales tax and at shopping outside the city." He doesn’t expect the new boost to affect anything significantly.

Analysis: This article is newsworthy because it alerts the readers know about what’s going on and what to expect with the local sales tax . This also can help people start saving their money. However, the story wasn’t written clearly. It could have added more detail and been more organized. The information was presented in a confusing way, which made it difficult to follow.

By Ashley P.