Thread by @ResearchPhilly

Egregious facts about our local billionaires and wealthy corporations, a thread...learn more by checking out the Revenue for a Just Recovery report. #TaxTheRichPHL 1/n
taxtherichphl.org/wp-content/upl…

@comcast CEO Brian Roberts' net worth increased by $200 million during the pandemic. Comcast brought in $11.7 billion in profit in 2018, yet pays zero property taxes on their $1.2 billion Technology Center building in Center City thanks to the tax abatement. #TaxTheRichPHL 2/n

@comcast Victoria Mars is one of our wealthiest local billionaires and she gained a full billion in net worth during the pandemic. Her family is the third wealthiest in the country. Mars Inc. has had a number of scandals for buying from farms who used child slave labor. #TaxTheRichPHL 3/n

@BrandywineRlty+tenants have taken advantage of Keystone Opp. Zones and tax abatements to avoid millions in Corporate Net Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, Business Gross Receipts Tax and Property Tax on huge UCity developments like Cira Centre, FMC Tower and Schuylkill Yards. 4/n

@BrandywineRlty @dechertllp, a Brandywine tenant and one of Philly's wealthiest law firms, has been hopping their HQ from one tax-free zone to another. They game the system to balloon their profits at the expense of local communities.
inquirer.com/business/deche…

@BrandywineRlty @dechertllp FMC, another Brandywine tenant, received $10MM in taxpayer-funded incentives, including grants and redevelopment money, to keep their HQ in Philly, while making hundreds of millions in profit. They are responsible for numerous superfund sites in ID, NY, MN, WA, etc. 6/n

@BrandywineRlty @dechertllp Let's not forget our city's wealthy nonprofits. @Penn and @DrexelUniv continue their westward expansion. Penn owns at least $3.2 billion in property, most of which is tax-exempt. Wealthy nonprofits owe our City and School District #PILOTs. 7/n

@BrandywineRlty @dechertllp @Penn @DrexelUniv @sixers owners Michael Rubin and Josh Harris had each of their net worths go up by $600MM during the pandemic. Rubin thinks a wealth tax would stifle innovation. Meanwhile, he owns a $43.5MM Manhattan apartment, while Philly is overwhelmed by COVID and gun violence epidemics. 8/n

David Paul also gained $600MM during the pandemic. He has avoided property taxes thru the Clean & Green program, and his company Globus Medical, Inc. paid $14.8 million to doctors in 2018 to influence adoption and purchase of their medical devices. 9/n
projects.propublica.org/docdollars/com…

@Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has $2.7 billion net worth. The Eagles and Phillies pay a combined $3 million annually to the City for use of their stadiums, and the Eagles turn around and charge Temple $3 million in annual rent. Eagles' ticket prices are 5th highest in the NFL. 10/n

@Eagles @UrbanOutfitters CEO Richard Hayne has $1.2BB net worth and is major GOP donor. Urban Outfitters has regularly sold clothing with racist slogans, copied artists’ work w/o compensation, appropriated indigenous styles and patterns, and created a toxic workplace for employees. 11/n

Since @PhillyMayor doesn't seem interested in taxing the rich, guess we should keep these facts coming? Btw check out the taxtherichphl.org/resources/ page to learn more about the #TaxTheRichPHL proposals and use an interactive tool to see how much revenue they could generate. 12/n

@Aramark has had numerous workers' rights and safety violations and has profited from unpaid prison labor. They had $448.5 MM in profit in 2019. Their former CEO Joseph Neubauer's foundation has been a major funder of the Philly Police Foundation. 13/n
motherjones.com/crime-justice/…

Aramark received a forgivable loan and tax abatement when moving its headquarters in 2016, while making hundreds of millions in profit and destroying that nice whale mural we used to have along the Schuylkill River. 14/n

Despite passing Philly by for their HQ2 @amazon has been expanding in Philly, leasing multiple warehouses and opening more pick-up locations. This could mean a rise in their business activity in Philly, which would fall under the BIRT tax that @PhillyMayor wants to cut. 15/n

@amazon's warehouses are known for terrible working conditions where employees have been forced to work while injured and forgo bathroom breaks. Amazon's profits doubled during the pandemic - they most certainly do not need or deserve more tax breaks. 16/n
newsweek.com/amazon-drivers…

@PhillyMayor says the problem is we can't raise taxes on wealthy corps w/o also doing so on small businesses due to PA Uniformity Clause. But currently the BIRT tax excludes the first $100k in revenue; why can't we adjust this to support small business while taxing the rich? 17/n

@PhillyMayor also wants to reduce the parking tax to pre-pandemic levels. Facing climate crisis, shouldn't we be incentivizing more use of public transit instead? Or is the issue that mega-donors Joe+Robert Zuritsky of Parkway Corporation are upset? 18/n
phillypowerresearch.org/news/2018/5/13…

Current/former Parkway Corp. execs have donated $41,100 to Kenney and $248,633 to current Councilmembers since 2014. The Zuritskys, as well as Philadelphia 3.0, which they founded, have been outspoken proponents of pro-business tax reform for years. 19/n
public.tableau.com/shared/XMZCPHW…