Judge Orders Troubled Pennsylvania City to Raise Income Taxes

Can judges do that?

Residents of Pennsylvania's debt-saddled capital city will see their earned income taxes double, a state judge ruled Monday.

Commonwealth Court Judge Bonnie Leadbetter ordered the Harrisburg City Council to raise the city's income tax from 1 percent to 2 percent within the next 15 days.

The new revenue from the tax increase will be used "only to pay for the services essential to the public health, safety or welfare," will not be split with the city's school district and will not be used to pay off any of Harrisburg's estimated $1.5 billion in debt, Leadbetter ordered.