Despite criticism from Uber and mixed reactions from city residents and leaders, Mayor Cherelle Parker doubled down on her plan to tax rideshares to generate money for Philadelphia public schools. During a City Hall press conference on Wednesday, April 15, Parker provided an update on her plan to help close a $300 million budget gap in the Philadelphia School District that could result in the loss of hundreds of jobs. The presser occurred a month after Parker announced an initial proposal to tax rideshares in Philadelphia at 20 cents per ride as part of her $6.9 billion city budget plan for 2027. Under her initial plan, the tax would generate $9.6 million per year for the School District of Philadelphia. During another announcement on March 23, however, Parker amended her initial proposal and said she was increasing the tax to $1 per ride. According to Parker, the increase would generate $50.4 million in new recurring revenue for the school district. Parker said in March that the additional funding would save approximately 240 positions within the school district, including 130 teachers, 55 student climate staff and 55 other school-based positions. On Wednesday, April 15, however, Parker announced that the school district and its finance team made adjustments that would save every single job but only if her plan to generate recurring revenue for the school district was approved. “If these taxes are enacted and approved by our council, this will be the largest new recurring local revenue source for the School District of Philadelphia since we enacted the sales tax and the cigarette tax,” Mayor Parker said on Wednesday. “And that was $120 million in annual revenue from the sales tax and $83 million respectively and I think our children and the School District of Philadelphia are worth it.” Parker also said the tax would be applied to rideshare companies, rather than individual drivers. Uber had already said in response to the 20 cents per ride tax proposal, however, that the cost would be passed along to riders. During the announcement in late March, NBC10’s Lauren Mayk asked the mayor about the potential financial impact the rideshare tax could have on riders and whether or not Philadelphians could afford it. Parker began her answer describing Uber’s history in Philadelphia and its impact on the taxicab industry. She then reiterated her point that it would be up to the rideshare companies to decide how they would handle the tax. “Again, I’m not responsible for how the company decides that it wants to adjust to this $1 tax. It’s not my responsibility to decide what it does,” she said at the time. During her press conference on April 15, Parker argued that other major cities, including New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco already had a rideshare tax in place and that Philadelphia would be the 52nd local government in the nation to do so if her plan is implemented. “The city of San Francisco, the home of Uber and Lyft, they’ve had a rideshare tax since 2020,” Mayor Parker said. “So wait a minute. This is 2026, the industry, it’s thriving, it’s bustling, and we’re excited about business thriving and bustling in the city of Philadelphia. We are open for business here. But how dare you tell me, as mayor of this city, to tell the people in this city, that we cannot and should not enact what is one of the most limited powers that we have. And that is to decide how we will drive revenue to the School District of Philadelphia.” Uber responds to Mayor Parker Jazmin Kay, a spokesperson for Uber, responded to Mayor Parker’s comments on Wednesday. “Everywhere in the world, rideshare taxes are consumer taxes paid by riders—raising prices, reducing demand, and ultimately lowering driver earnings—and the administration knows this, which is why their proposal explicitly requires the tax to be collected from passengers, not absorbed by companies,” Kay wrote. “In a moment of real affordability strain, adding a new $1 fee on top of the existing 1.4% rideshare fee creates a regressive double tax that will limit access to work, school, and essential services, even as thousands of jurisdictions across the country choose not to tax rideshare at all.” Kay also claimed that riders already pay a rideshare tax that benefits local schools. “We assume one of the “51 places” the mayor referenced is already counting Philadelphia, since riders already pay a rideshare tax that benefits local schools on every trip in Philadelphia through our existing 1.4% PPA assessment, 2/3rds of which already goes to Philadelphia schools,” Kay wrote. “Rideshare is already likely the single largest corporate contributor to Philadelphia schools through its existing tax.” Kay also reiterated that Parker’s plan would impact riders rather than Uber. “The ordinance targets the passenger, not the company. Section 19-1808 requires rideshare companies to collect the tax ‘from the passenger’ as an agent for the Board of Education,” Kay wrote. “This is a tax on the rider’s transaction, not a fee on the business, despite the administration’s attempt to frame it otherwise.” Kay also claimed that so far this year, 60% of Uber trips originating in Philadelphia were to or from underserved areas, almost 1.1 million trips were for healthcare, more than one million trips went to or from public transit stations and about 85% of riders chose lower-cost options. “We’re concerned that this tax would reduce access to these essential trips, and we estimate that a $1 fee could lead to a ~4.5% decrease in driver earnings,” she wrote. City Council held a hearing on Parker’s spending plan back on March 24. During the meeting, councilmembers heard testimony from members of the mayor’s administration, including department heads and independently elected offices. If approved, the rideshare tax would take effect on Jan. 1, 2027. ...read more read less