Two from the Weekly

The Philadelphia Weekly has two chewy pieces in the latest issue:

• The first looks at what might be the effects of cuts at the Philadelphia Inquirer, especially on dense coverage of breaking local stories that nobody else is prepared to address in that way.

  The grand jury report gave Inquirer readers a reason to remember the bond that exists between a daily newspaper and the community it serves. Perhaps more important, the Inquirer may have also reminded itself where its greatest strengths lie. And not a moment too soon.

  They express the hope that "rebuilding" of the news room shores up the strong focus on local issues that local residents rely on, and especially deeper investigative stories, rather than spreading themselves thinly over all levels and minor event lists. It's not clear that there will be enough staff to support such a vision...
  
  
• A second story looks at prospects for property tax hikes in coming years as housing valuations are adjusted to reflect current realities.

  The BRT plans to reassess all 568,000 properties in the city at 100 percent of their fair market value in time for the 2007 tax year. The move to "full valuation" will make the system more equitable and predictable. Politically, however, the move is tough because, like the Rittenhouse Square homeowner who pays taxes on only a portion of his property's value, many Philadelphians now grossly underpay.

  Definitely a hot potato, but not adjusting in order to avoid angry residents leaves the burden disproportionately on those whose houses haven't appreciated by much, and they're already being punished in a different way. Hopefully City Council will decrease the tax rate to offset some of the largest hikes, which will then also offer a break to those in the less booming neighborhoods. (I suspect a lot of individual-case adjustments may be needed as well for low-income folks overrun by gentrification.)