There would be no exemptions to a commuter tax imposed by Scranton on nonresidents who work in the city, the city's Act 47 coordinator said Friday.
The question of whether some federal or county workers who work in the city but live outside of it could somehow claim exemptions from paying a proposed 1 percent commuter tax was raised by city resident Andy Sbaraglia during Thursday's council meeting. Council officials said they did not immediately know the answer.
On Friday, Gerald Cross, the executive director of the city's Act 47 coordinator, Pennsylvania Economy League, said that under state law there would be no exemptions to a city commuter tax.
"I'm not aware of any exemptions," Mr. Cross said.
A 1 percent earned-income tax on commuters is one of the city's key alternatives to property tax hikes under its revised Act 47 recovery plan adopted Aug. 23. The city still needs approval from Lackawanna County Court to impose a commuter tax but has not yet petitioned the court for a hearing.
The mayor and council propose to increase the nonresident earned-income tax from the current 1 percent to 2 percent, while maintaining the earned-income tax of 2.4 percent on city residents.
A 1 percent commuter tax is expected to raise $2.5 million next year for Scranton and $4 million in 2014 and 2015, after which it would be discontinued, council members said.
"All we're asking is for a little bit of help (from nonresidents) for a couple of years," Councilman Jack Loscombe said during the council meeting. "We have to get innovative, and if that requires asking our neighbors for some help at this time, and we're not the only ones in the state that do that. Reading, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh - they all do it. Our situation's a little different. Different in the fact that we have to apply each year for that, and we only have it in our recovery plan for three years."
"With the right fiscal jurisprudence here watching over the money that's coming in from that and designating it to where it should go, not to the black hole like it used to, I think we are able to turn this around," Mr. Loscombe continued. "And it's going to be a benefit to not only our residents but those people out of the city who will benefit from a greater and stronger Scranton area. And by us being stronger, we'll be able to help those areas at times, too. That's what it's about. They're our family. All the areas around here are part of the Scranton family. We happen to be the county seat. We happen to have a majority of nontaxable properties."
Councilman Frank Joyce added that if there were no commuter tax to bring in $2.5 million from nonresidents next year, the city would have to raise real estate taxes on city residents by an additional 18 percent in 2013.
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com