The budget situation remains appalling; the failure of city council to do anything other than pass the buck to the state legislature may prove to be quite dangerous. I think Governor Rendell is well aware of the potential for this kind of thing, a resurgent, 1994-esque, election cycle next year should the economy force a tax increase next year.

As a long-term resident (and home-owner), there just isn’t the trust necessary for a major revision in property taxes, which is probably the long-term solution. The Inqy’s continued series on the failures at the BRT highlights the difficulty in using real estate taxes as a source of revenue. For example, they assess my house at $415k, at least $80k higher than it could possibly sell for, while identifying many of the fancy homes in the fancy Penn school catchment area as being worth significantly less. Not quite sure how this could happen. I’d be willing to handle a property tax increase but it has to be done fairly and accurately.