Federal policy should provide important boosts to entrepreneurs by making key aspects of the 2001 and 2003 tax relief measures permanent, including lower personal income, capital gains and dividend tax rates, expanded expensing levels for capital investment, and the phasing out of the death tax. The tax code should be simplified to benefit all businesses, especially small business.

Sep 3, 2010 Pa. and N.J. are in the top 10 of closing costs, a survey says. (The Philadelphia Inquirer) ...transfer tax from Bankrate.com's equation didn't stop Pennsylvania agents from attacking it. "Cut the transfer tax to a more sensible number, encourage buyers with lower closing costs, and allow city budget planning not based on the ups and downs of a fluctuating real estate market," said...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Bethel Park school facility 'topped off' (The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) Lebanon High School from 2003-06, participating in early planning for that district's high school project. Lebanon, the maximum project cost was set at $113.3 million, and school officials passed a 2.63-mill tax hike for 2010-11. The owner of a house assessed at $100,000 would pay an extra $263...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 MCA board discusses renovations to Silver Bowl (The News-Item) Kraynak and Belfanti were the subject of a recent article in The News-Item because they and board member Rose Marquardt had been delinquent on county property taxes. Touch pads and scoreboards and a $50,000 ticket booth.    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Casey discusses Recovery Act (The Daily Review (Towanda, Pa.)) Eric Hrin Sep. 3, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- FORKSVILLE -- U.S. Sen.    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Haddon Heights mayor touts political experience on business' website (The Philadelphia Inquirer) Christie gave to a local television reporter. On the campaign trail last year, Christie praised Alexander as a small-town mayor who has bucked the trend and kept taxes down. In the video he offers the sort of endorsement most any Republican politician, or businessman for that matter, would kill...    more...  

Sep 3, 2010 Business group pledges $4 million in grants to aid 7 urban Catholic schools' endowments (The Philadelphia Inquirer) Francis DeSales, West Philadelphia, $1 million; Mercy Vocational High School, North Philadelphia, $1 million; Drexel Neumann Academy, Chester, $750,000; St. Cyril of Alexandria, East Lansdowne, $250,000; Our Mother of Sorrows/St. Ignatius of Loyola, West Philadelphia; $250,000; and St.    more...  

Sep 2, 2010 Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson explains city's missed debt payment (The Patriot-News) ...layoffs or furloughs of city staffers. "I'll be laying out a plan soon for the next tier of tough decisions," she said. "We've done a lot of hard and tough decisions. ... but the second tier of tough and hard decisions are going to require some layoffs." The missed payment is on a 1997 bond...    more...  

Sep 2, 2010 DEP officials outline plan to clean up Millcreek landfill site (Erie Times-News) The site is east of Selinger Avenue and west of Pittsburgh Avenue. DEP crews have found groundwater, surface water and sediment contamination throughout much of the site.    more...  

Sep 2, 2010 With Bush gone, Kanjorski runs against Barletta (The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.)) Barletta for more than a month after the May primary election, Mr. Kanjorski is trying to turn that against Mr. Barletta raised property and income taxes by those amounts this year. Shawn Kelly, Mr.    more...  

Sep 2, 2010 Philadelphia Daily News Jenice Armstrong column (Philadelphia Daily News) Jenice Armstrong Sep. 2, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- THE FOLLOWING is a tale of two women. She became homeless in July after she was evicted from her neat four-bedroom PHA apartment in North Philly because she was behind on her rent. Robinson and her children...    more...  

Sep 2, 2010 Lehigh pols (The Morning Call) The real estate crash has helped boost the number of commercial and residential appeals. In Lehigh County, the number of appeals has nearly tripled since 2008, when 186 appeals were filed. Most counties spend millions to hire an outside firm to compile the data and crunch the numbers....    more...  

Sep 1, 2010 Gas tax plan suggested (The Times Leader) ...enactment of a severance tax that would take effect in January 2011. According to the report author, policy center research director Michael Wood, a severance tax makes sense for several reasons: Every state with mineral wealth, except Pennsylvania, imposes a severance tax; states with...    more...  

Sep 1, 2010 Housing market slump hits Penn Lyon Homes (The Daily Item) He said some of the employees had been there for many years. "We're a proud company," he said. "We build good products. It's an unfortunate situation that's come upon us.    more...  

Sep 1, 2010 Lehigh County proposes 16 percent tax hike (The Morning Call) We don't want to do that." Under Cunningham's plan, nonunion workers would receive 2 percent to 3 percent wage increases, costing the county $1.25 million. This proposal marks the first time the county executive has opted to give 2 percent wage increases or 3 percent step increases. At that time...    more...  

Sep 1, 2010 The Philadelphia Inquirer PhillyDeals column (The Philadelphia Inquirer) Vanbreda sales topped 50 million euros last year.    more...  

Sep 1, 2010 Philadelphia to host happy hour to woo bloggers (The Philadelphia Inquirer) She started FrugalPhillyMom.com in March and has made a whopping $80 so far from ads on her site. She has lost hours at her part-time job. Her husband is a city firefighter facing reduced overtime.    more...  

Sep 1, 2010 Casino's backers, foes skirmish in Gettysburg (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Harry Readshaw, D-Carrick, submitted a letter of support for the casino, praising Mr. LeVan for fund-raising help each year for a motorcycle ride from Harrisburg to Gettysburg. Readshaw wrote. But opponents of the casino didn't see it that way.    more...  

Sep 1, 2010 Northwestern Pa. bridge repair projects could dry up (Erie Times-News) The project will carry into 2011, when an additional 67 bridges are slated for repair in the local PennDOT district. But things get "interesting" after 2011, Petit said.    more...  

Sep 1, 2010 Natural gas tax plan suggested (The Times Leader) ...with severance taxes fared much better than those without. A severance tax is typically structured as either a percentage of the sales price or as a fixed rate per thousand cubic feet of natural gas, which is reset each year. Some producers have expressed a preference for a fixed rate that is...    more...  

Aug 31, 2010 Callahan unveils plan to grow jobs (The Morning Call) Democratic leaders last week urged their candidates to emphasize small businesses while campaigning. Callahan's Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Starting three administrations before Callahan took office, Bethlehem officials mapped out a plan using a mix of tax abatement districts, grants and...    more...