Philadelphia's Tax Burden Is 2nd Highest Among Major American Cities

By Mike Dunn

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Another dubious distinction for Philadelphia: a new report out of DC puts our city #2 among the major cities with the highest tax rates. That, of course, makes Mayor Nutter cringe.

Mayor Nutter was all too familiar with the report from Office of Revenue Analysis in DC which annually calculates the highest tax burdens in the nation.

"Unfortunately, Philadelphia has fairly consistently been high on that particular list," Nutter said.

This year Philly is #2, behind only Bridgeport, Conn. Nutter says reducing the tax burden is always a goal, but a tough one.

"We know that it is a challenge, but at the same time our citizens want and require a certain level of service here in the city, and we have to pay for that."

And Nutter said his new budget will hold to the schedule of wage tax reductions which resumed this year.

"No one really likes paying taxes, everyone loves having service. So we're going to continue to drive down the cost of doing business from a tax standpoint in the city of Philadelphia."

The report particularly noted that the tax burden here was quite high on all income levels, including the poorest.