Philadelphia business owners were gathered in droves when Philadelphia’s revived Tax Reform Commission recently held its first public hearing, writes Pat Loeb for KYW Newsradio.

The business owners were pushing for various tax cuts.

Jeff DuVuono, has spent decades in the local real estate industry, and has seen suburban office space almost double while Philly’s has stagnated. He noted that the reasons are due to the combination of the Business Income Receipts Tax (BIRT), the use and occupancy tax, and wage tax doubling the cost of office space in the city.

“If the city wants to continue to see a decline in its population, workforce, and economic vitality, leave the BIRT and wage tax unchanged, but if it wants to increase the number of people living, working, and growing within its borders, it must decrease or, better yet, eliminate the BIRT and wage tax,” he said.

The owner of Brandywine Real Estate has long championed replacing those taxes with an increase in property taxes.

Meanwhile, parking magnate Robert Zuritsky advocates for the elimination of the parking tax.

Stan Shapiro of Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks reminded the commission that cutting business taxes without replacing the revenue would result in huge cuts in services.

The commission is expected to make recommendations in the fall.

Read more about Philadelphia’s tax burden in KYW Newsradio.

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