July 27

Public officials and press agree: No sales tax

By Deborah Musselman, Director of Government Affairs
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

It’s always gratifying when decision makers, administrators -- even bureaucrats! -- agree with the press on matters of public policy, and that’s what we’re excited to report here today.

You’ll recall that it has already been more than a year since the Department of Revenue unveiled their ‘interpretation’ that the 1991 state budget, raising the state income tax and many others, also authorized that agency to collect sales tax on the copying fees charged for photocopies of public records at the local courthouse. It’s a false analogy, in our opinion, considering that the so-called consumer has no choice in the matter of where to obtain copies of any records, can’t shop around for price or convenience, and a county or municipality is not a business competing for customers.

Our major reason for opposing this, however, is because a public record is not a commodity for generating revenue. Where would it end, we wonder -- what about taxing the fee paid to obtain birth or death certificates -- how about hunting licenses, or those pricey occupational licenses? Professional and elected officials in various parts of the state are asking the same questions, and the Commissioners of Montgomery County, as reported this July 21 by The Mercury, Pottstown, have recently taken a public stand on the matter, refusing to allow the tax to be collected there. Read The Mercury’s coverage of this recent development, and contact me at (717) 703-3077 or deborahm@pa-news.org for updates -- this issue could be starting to heat up.

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