Philadelphia's general fund tax revenues exceeded projections in the first quarter of the 2017 fiscal year, according to City Controller Alan Butkovitz.
A report Butkovitz released Monday said tax collections totaled $553 million, which outperformed the city's initial five-year plan forecast by $5 million or 1%. Tax revenue was up 3% from the 2016 first quarter and 26% from the same period in 2012.
Butkovitz noted that almost 90% of the tax revenue growth was attributed to the higher collections in wage and realty transfer taxes, which recorded increases of $69 million and $26 million, respectively. The remaining 14 other general fund taxes generated a combined increase of $11.7 million.
Philadelphia's surge in tax collections in the last five years coincides with a boost in jobs and home sales, according to Butkovitz. Philadelphia has added 43,330 jobs and home sales are up 63% from 2012 when Butkovitz says the nation's fifth largest city was beginning to recover from the Great Recession of 2008.
Moody's Investors Service revised Philadelphia's credit outlook to negative from stable in September citing concerns about weakened reserves. Philadelphia bonds are rated A2 by Moody's, A-plus by S&P Global Ratings and A-minus by Fitch Ratings.
