We previously reported on Mayor Eric Papenfuse’s controversial plan to triple the local services tax in the City of Harrisburg (a tax that overwhelmingly affects commuters, not residents). After securing the needed sign-off from the Commonwealth Court in January, Papenfuse’s plan was stalled by City Council as it worked through numerous other changes proposed to the City’s Financial Recovery Plan.
But now the plan has finally been approved. Workers paying the tax should expect to see the higher tax on their paystubs soon. Perhaps worst of all, the tax was approved retroactively back to January 1 – meaning that taxpayers will either have to make up the difference going forward, or pay a larger, lump sum bill from their first paycheck for the January-April period when the new, higher tax is collected.