Solebury is getting flimflammed by the City of Brotherly Love, according to the township board of supervisors.
The problem is this, said Supervisor Chair Mark Baum Baicker:
• Solebury’s 2,600 residents working in Philadelphia pay an Earned Income Tax (EIT) to the city at the city’s current rate of 3.44%. Under state law (the 1932 Sterling Act), Philly is not required to remit any portion of that back to Solebury which has its own EIT of 1%.
• The non-resident Philly taxpayer, however, is credited with paying the equivalent of Solebury’s tax, but Solebury never gets the money.
So, on May 18 the supervisors unanimously passed a resolution urging the Pennsylvania Legislature to amend the Sterling Act to require that up to 1% of the EIT paid by non-residents of Philadelphia be remitted back to the municipality in which they live if that municipality has enacted an EIT. In that case, Philadelphia would receive only 2.44% of the tax, not 3.44%.
The following week, the Buckingham Township Board of Supervisors joined Solebury, Northampton and several other Bucks County municipalities in passing a similar resolution on May 24.
If successful, the initiative was estimated to provide an Buckingham with an additional $200,000 in income, and a total of $9 million for Bucks municipalities.
The amendment (SB671) passed the state Senate on May 3. The resolution asks the state House of Representatives to pass a similar bill.
Solebury contends the “inequities created by the Sterling Act deprived Solebury Township of an estimated annual EIT revenue of $51,242 that could be used to provide essential local government services including police, fire and emergency medical services.”
“It seems to me the core of this issue is one of fairness,” said Supervisor Kevin Morrissey. “It is not fair that by keeping all tax revenue of Philly commuters, that Philadelphia residents are judged to be a higher priority than other Pennsylvania residents.”
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