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Residents urge council to use proposed ride-share fee to protect school staff; therapists and small-business owners warn of tax harms
Summary
Multiple residents asked council to adopt the mayor's proposed $1 ride-share tax to avert cuts that could eliminate 340 school-based positions, while therapists and small-business owners warned the city's recent business tax changes (BERT/BIRT) and new fees risk harming sole proprietors and could be regressive if passed to consumers.
Public commenters at the town hall urged the council to prioritize school funding and to consider the mayor's proposed ride-share tax as a local revenue source.
"We need to protect 340 teachers, counselors, climate staff, and other school-based positions that students rely on every day," said Satie Spraglot, who identified herself as a community member and constituent of Council Member Skoller, urging council to treat the proposed $50.4 million for schools as a floor rather than a ceiling. Franji Poso read testimony for parent Shara Hered Oaks of Lingelbach Elementary, saying, "I am a parent of a first grader at Lingelbach Elementary School...I urge city councils to support the mayor's proposal for the ride share tax, which can provide $48 million in funding to our schools."
Several speakers tied the school funding question to larger funding and policy choices. Kevin Burgess, a South Philadelphia resident, described a $300 million district deficit and argued "the proposed $1 per ride tax on ride share companies is necessary to stop massive cuts" and compared the fee to charges in other large cities. State Senator Sharif Street told the audience a Commonwealth Court ruling requires the state legislature to address funding disparities across districts and encouraged engagement with state-level hearings to supplement local funding.
At the same time, therapists and small-business representatives warned about the cumulative effects of recent tax changes. Janine Stewart, a mental health therapist, said the removal of BERT exemptions has been "devastating" for sole proprietors and urged hearings and legislative fixes (she cited Council Member Driscoll's bill number 251026). Meta, speaking on behalf of people who signed a petition, said hundreds of small proprietors fear rent increases and displacement as a result of recent tax changes and asked council for relief measures and a hearing on the Bird/BERT impacts.
Council members present accepted public testimony and said they would bring these concerns back to staff and the administration for follow-up; no formal vote was taken at the town hall.
The record shows strong community support for the ride-share tax as a stopgap for school funding, balanced by organized concerns about the distributional impacts of multiple simultaneous tax changes on small businesses and individual practitioners.
