In a landmark 1987 study, Wharton finance professor Robert P. Inman blamed the city wage tax for the loss of more than 100,000 jobs between 1966 and 1986. That loss of taxpaying residents and businesses has made it all the harder to balance the city budget with existing taxes, much less prune them back. In 1995, Rendell initiated a series of excruciatingly small reductions in wage and business taxes. It's conceivable the tiny reductions already have impact. The latest federal data, for the third quarter of 1999, showed job growth inside the city matching growth in the suburbs for the first time in 30 years.
Street proposes to continue incremental tax cuts for five more years.
But that may be too little, too late for many high-tech ventures. More aggressive cuts in city spending, such as contracting out trash collection and other services now performed by city workers. It would be a very difficult thing to do politically. Getting more support from the state or federal governments. Restructuring current taxes, such as slashing the wage tax, raising property taxes to cover the lost revenue, and providing low-income assistance for those who can't afford the higher property taxes.